UnBounded (Book 4)
by wisegirl502
Summary: After the war, Luke, Silena, Bryn, and Derek must not only deal with the consequences of their fall and escape from Tartarus, but also a new enemy, an enemy they cannot see. An enemy that is targeting them specifically. They'll need to control the monster before the monster controls them.
1. Our Spidey Senses Are Tingling

**Because I couldn't wait to get started and I'm procrastinating on studying, have a chapter of a brand new story for the UnKnown Saga.**

 **Chapter Quote:  
** " **When you feel like throwing rocks, make sure they're ones no one can throw back."  
** **~Rebecca McKinsey**

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Chapter 1: Our Spidey Senses Are Tingling

 **Bryn**

"Get off the roof! Get off the roof! Get off the roof!" Bryn said to herself, bolting towards the edge of the building with Luke. She'd put down a bomb of Greek fire in front of the entrance to the roof of the building she was on so when the monsters chasing them came after them, they'd be gone in a nanosecond.

She grabbed Luke's hand before they jumped. Right as their first foot went over the side, the bomb went off, pushing them over the edge. Bryn and Luke lost grip on each other's hands. Her world was spinning until she finally managed to right herself up. Luke was still tumbling head over heels. Using her powers, she forced the wind to try and stop them. They had too much momentum going though so while she slowed them down, it wasn't enough to stop them from hitting the ground. Thankfully, it wasn't _too_ hard of a hard landing.

Bryn groaned as she sat up, rubbing her shoulder that she'd landed on.

"You okay Sharkboy?" she asked, turning her head so she could see her boyfriend. He was sitting against the wall of the building, heaving.

"I'm fine. What about you Cat Woman?" Luke looked over at Bryn, his blue eyes sparkling from the adrenaline. Suddenly that sparkle disappeared as his eyes narrowed in on her shoulder. "Are you hurt? You're bleeding."

"Hey, I'm fine. I just landed on my shoulder when we hit the ground. I probably got hit by some shrapnel too. Let's go find Derek and Silena," she suggested. Luke helped her help, wrapping his arm around her waist. She'd taken a harder fall than her boyfriend since she'd tried to cushion his fall as much as possible. Of course, the moment she stood up she realized it wasn't just her shoulder that was hurt, but pretty much every inch of her body.

"Bryn!" Derek shouted. He and Silena slid to a stop in front of them. Eyeing his friend worriedly, he asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Just a bad fall. We took care of the monsters on our end. You?"

"They're crispy critters down in Tartarus now," Silena confirmed. "We should head back to camp, get any wounds we have taken care of."

The rest agreed. They headed over to their car that was parked about a quarter mile away. Luke got into the driver's seat, Bryn rode shotgun. Silena and Derek took the back. The ride to camp was about two hours and although she wanted to stay awake to keep Luke company, Bryn's fatigue settled in. She closed her eyes, dreading what dreams would come to her.

Bryn was extremely familiar with nightmares; she had at least three every night, usually more, never less. But her experience in Tartarus two months ago had amplified them by a tenfold. All her nightmares now took place in that hell hole. Most of the time it was a repeat of when she was paralyzed, watching helplessly as her friends were beaten and injured, except in the dreams, her friends never made it. She'd wake up in a cold sweat.

She wasn't the only one experiencing it though. Luke, Derek, and Silena were just as bad. Silena's nightmares consisted of her being blind and unable to help her friends. Derek's typically consisted of his Underworld powers failing him when he needed them to save his friends. Luke never shared his, no matter how many times Bryn or the others asked him what happened. If it was Bryn, he'd simply give her an exhausted smile and pull her close to him, as if he took comfort in just her being there.

Maybe the car ride was too short, or maybe Bryn never actually fell into a deep sleep, but the nightmare never came. She woke up when the car stopped. It was an hour before dinner so that gave them all enough time to shower and clean themselves up.

"I'm going to the infirmary. I'll see you at dinner?" Bryn queried, looking at her friends.

"Of course," Derek said. "We'll see you later."

"I'll go with you. I'll debrief Chiron on what happened," Luke offered.

Bryn started walking off with Luke right behind her. Upon arriving at the infirmary, they found Chiron was tending to another camper. He smiled at them as they approached.

"Another successful mission I presume?" he asked, standing up.

"Yes, sir, but again, not entirely unscathed. I think I have some shrapnel from a Greek fire bomb in my shoulder. Could you take a look please?" Bryn requested. The centaur motioned for her to sit down. She pushed down the shoulder of her shirt so that her mentor could take a look.

"Ah, yes, you do have a little bit. Luke, my boy, grab a petri dish and some tweezers from the cabinet would you?" Chiron ordered. The Jackson boy did as he was told. Chiron set to work. "So where'd that limp come from, Miss Bryn?"

"Landed a little hard when we jumped off the building."

"She was using more resistance to stop me than herself," Luke said, giving her a disapproving look.

"How did you-"

"I was closer to the ground than you but somehow landed after you."

"Okay, so I was using my powers more on you than myself. It's out of habit."

"To put yourself in life-threatening situations?"

"No, to protect the ones I love," she said through gritted teeth. Her boyfriend looked down.

"All right, all the shrapnel's out. Here's some ambrosia and nectar to eat. Get to bed early tonight. Both of you have had a long day and you're taking your exhaustion out on each other." The centaur patted their backs gently before leaving. Bryn and Luke walked out of the infirmary, neither saying a word until they reached Zeus's cabin.

"I'm sorry for being an ass back there. I know you're just trying to protect me," Luke said, leaning against the wall next to the door.

"And I'm sorry for scaring you all the time. I know you're just looking out for me. But I promise you that I'm not going to put myself in any life-threatening situations unless I know I can come out of them alive."

"I'd rather you not put yourself in any life-threatening situations in the first place but I know it comes with being a demigod so I'm not going to stop you."

"Hey, you'll be with me whenever I'm in those situations anyways so I always have you to save my ass if I need it." Bryn winked at him as she opened her door. The two of them walked in.

"It's usually you saving my ass," Luke chuckled, shutting the door.

"True, but at least we're even now."

"Took two or three years for that to happen but it did. Do you want to watch a movie tonight?"

"I would love to, but I'm probably going to bed right after dinner. Jumping off buildings takes it out of you."

Luke smiled. "All right. If you change your mind, I'll be in the Poseidon cabin."

"I know where you'll be. I'm in your bed half the time."

An impish grin settled on her boyfriend's face. She made a face at him, knowing exactly where his thoughts were going. Giving him a kiss, she headed towards the showers.

The warm water felt good. She could feel the grime and dirt sliding off her body. She had to make sure the water wasn't too hot so as not to let the water sting her wounds any more than they already were. Drying off with a towel, she put on some yoga pants, a sports bra, and a tee shirt. She went back to her cabin. Luke wasn't there anymore. Bryn tossed her towel on the bed and dried her hair. Afterwards, she put on enough makeup to hide the dark circles under her eyes. She didn't mind spilling to Luke, Derek, and Silena about her dreams, even her brothers, but she didn't want to tell anyone else, and she didn't want them asking.

"Bryn?" Silena poked her head in. "Can I come in?"

"Of course. You okay?"

"Fine. You?"

"Better now that I've showered. I see you have too."

"I smelled like burnt monsters. Which is disgusting."

Bryn smiled. "What's on your mind? I know that look on your face."

"I don't know… I've just been having these weird feelings lately. I keep thinking they're remnants of what happened in Tartarus haunting me but for some reason, I don't think that's it," Silena confessed.

Bryn scrunched his eyebrows together. "What type of feeling?"

"It's hard to explain. It's half like knowing something really bad is about to happen and the other half is feeling like something's breathing down my neck. It only happens when I'm alone though so I'm starting to think it's just paranoia."

The daughter of Zeus bit her lip, wondering how to break the news to her friend in a way that wouldn't make her stress more than she already was. "It's… not just you."

"What do you mean?"

"I thought it was just me getting these weird feelings. Mine's sort of different, and it's all but disappeared now, but the first month we were back from Tartarus, I felt like something was watching me constantly and sometimes when I'd be in the cabin alone, the temperature would seem to drop by twenty degrees. I'd always go to Luke when that'd happen and just stay in his bed the rest of the night. I never said anything because I thought it was paranoia."

"You don't think it is?"

"It's weird that we're both feeling it. I'll talk to Hallie. She's coming over tomorrow with the twins. I'll see if any of them are experiencing anything weird. For now, be on alert for anything unusual."

"Thank you Bryn. How are you doing? How are the dreams?"

"I've never been happier. I mean the nightmares I could do without but honestly, I don't think I've ever been happier."

"The nightmares haven't gotten better?"

Bryn shook her head. "No. Some are less severe than others but the pain is still there. What about yours?"

Silena shrugged. "About the same as you I guess. Listen, I told Derek I'd meet him before dinner so I have to go. But I'll see you later?"

"Maybe. I'm heading to bed early. I'm exhausted from today."

"I understand. If I don't see you later, I'll see you tomorrow." Silena left the room. Bryn finished doing her makeup and went to dinner. She sat with Derek at the Apollo table. She stayed quiet most of the dinner, but she smiled and laughed along with the rest of the table. Her eyes kept roaming over to Luke. He was sitting by himself at the Poseidon table. Silena was at the Athena table. At one point, Bryn's eyes met Silena's. The former nodded over to Luke. His sister seemed to pick up on her meaning: why was Luke eating alone?

When dinner was over, Luke headed to the campfire with the rest. Bryn pushed aside her worries about him and went to her cabin to go to sleep. Sleep came to her almost instantly, but with the sleep came the nightmares. She knew they weren't real, but the rationalization rarely helped. The pain was still too real, too soon, too true. Every time Bryn woke up from the dream of watching her friends die while was paralyzed, unable to save them, her heart felt like it was going to simultaneously constrict and explode into nothingness.

At some point in the night, Bryn woke up to the sound of someone quietly entering her cabin. The person slid into bed next to her. Knowing who it was, she turned over so she could rest her head on his chest.

"Did I wake you?" Luke whispered.

"No," she murmured in response. "Nightmare."

He kissed her on the head, wrapping his arms around her. Luke knew that saying comforting words would do nothing to console her, so he just held her until she would fall back asleep. They did this every night, every night since their first night back from Tartarus. The first time it'd happened, Bryn had gone to the Poseidon cabin. Luke had been up, doing stuff on his computer, but he dropped everything to help her. The next night, he came over to her cabin. That night they made an agreement that neither needed to knock if they were coming in, that they could just crawl in bed with each other.

"Were you okay at dinner?" Bryn asked softly.

"Yeah, why?"

"You were sitting alone."

"It's not the first time I've done it."

"No, but you've been doing almost every day since we got back from Tartarus."

"I'm fine, just haven't been in the mood for deep, technical conversations which seems to be the only topic of interest at the Athena table," he joked, but Bryn could tell his heart wasn't in it. She wanted to push but he was putting up walls, and she was all too familiar with that since she'd done the same thing for most of her life, even to the people closest to her.

"Well, when you decide to tell me what's going on, because I know something is, I'll be all ears." Giving him a kiss on his jaw, she closed her eyes again.

She woke up what felt like only a few minutes later but she knew it was longer than that. Bryn noticed that her bed suddenly seemed much larger than usual, and she realized that was because Luke was gone. Or so she thought. Upon rolling over to her other side, she found him pacing up and down her cabin, seemingly oblivious to the fact she was awake.

"Luke? What's wrong?" Bryn asked, sitting up. She glanced outside to gauge what time it was. She could see on the horizon the faint blue that indicated dawn was coming. It must've at least been close to four or five in the morning.

"I'm fine. Just a nightmare."

"So why are you pacing?"

"To calm myself down."

"What was it about?"

"Nothing."

Bryn sighed. "This has been going on for two months. One day you're going to have to tell me what's going on."

"That's funny coming from the girl who not only kept secrets from her friends religiously over her entire time at being at camp, but also refused to tell her closest friends she was dying."

The words stung but Bryn didn't let them get to her. Luke was exhausted and was taking his tiredness out on her. She stood up. "I know, and I'm telling you to open up because I know what keeping secrets does to you. It slowly destroys you from the inside out, Luke. It will destroy the light inside of and let darkness take over."

"You can't do anything if I tell you so what's the point in doing so?"

"Because maybe I can't help, but it might feel good to get it off your chest."

"It won't do any good! Geez, just stop pestering me about this already, will you? Gods, if I knew that having a girlfriend meant I'd be relentlessly asked to share my feelings, I never would've gotten one." Luke stormed out of Zeus's cabin, leaving Bryn frozen in place. Had she heard him correctly? Was he regretting dating her?

Numbly, the daughter of Zeus crawled back into bed, closing her eyes in an attempt to fall asleep. But no matter what she tried, her body refused to relax, refused to let her sleep. Her thoughts kept racing about what Luke had said.

Suddenly her phone started buzzing. Grabbing it, she said, "Hello?"

"Hey sis," the twins greeted simultaneously. They sounded tired.

"Hey you two. Everything okay?"

"We were about to ask if we'd woken you up but you hardly sound tired," Brady said.

"Our spidey senses were tingling and we sensed you were distressed about something," Bradley added.

"Luke and I just had a fight is all."

"You two have had fights before but Brady and I never got a feeling about it before. Whatever he said really got to you."

"Something's wrong with him and he won't tell me what it is. Then he said some stuff that makes me think he wants to break up with me."

"Break up with you?" Brady repeated.

"Okay, this is the guy that fell into Tartarus for you. I'm pretty sure he doesn't want to break up with you," Bradley remarked.

"Tartarus changed us. Maybe more than we know," Bryn said.

"You want us to talk to him?"

"No, but thank you. I'll talk to Silena, see if she knows anything. I'm fine though, really. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah. We should get there right after breakfast."

"All right. Get some sleep."

"You two Bryn. We love you," Brady said. She hung up with her brothers and rolled onto her stomach. Maybe tomorrow would be kinder.

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 **A long chapter for a first chapter. Longer than I expected. Hope you enjoyed and reviews would be lovely :)**


	2. Couple Who Slay Together Stay Together

**Because I enjoyed the reviews so much from the last chapter (specifically jennasbluecookies 'I'm already terrified' comment), you get a new one :)**

 **Chapter Quote:  
** " **Love is a fire. But whether it is going to warm your hearth or burn down your house, you can never tell."  
** **~Joan Crawford**

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Chapter 2: Couple Who Slay Together Stay Together

Luke wasn't at breakfast. It went unnoticed by everyone, even Silena, although she seemed rather preoccupied by something. Derek was half asleep in his food. Bryn sat by herself at the Zeus table, not wanting conversation, but that changed when two people sat beside her.

"Hello big sister," the twins greeted. A smile broke out onto her face as she smiled at her brothers.

"Hey you two," she said. "How was the trip?"

"Fine. Hallie told us to tell you hi. She went straight to the Hades cabin to take a nap," Bradley explained.

"I don't blame her. I hate mornings too."

"How are you doing?" Brady queried.

"I'm okay."

"Did you get any more sleep after we talked to you last night?" Bradley prodded.

"No, but it's not like that's anything new. I never slept before Tartarus and I don't sleep now."

"That doesn't help our worry about you."

"Not at all."

"I'm fine you two. It's nothing I can't handle," she assured.

"Where's your boyfriend?" Brady asked.

"Still sleeping. I'd go wake him up but after last night, I'd rather avoid him. Give him space."

"We'll talk to him," Bradley offered.

"He can't break up with us if he gets mad at us," Brady joked. It made Bryn smile.

"Tread carefully. He's still really bad off from Tartarus despite what he says. He talks in his sleep a lot. That's the only reason I have some inkling about what his dreams are about."

"We'll see you soon. Sword-fighting challenge later?"

"Deal. Just don't let your egos get too wounded when I beat you."

"We're used to being beat by you," Bradley remarked in amusement. The twins got up and headed to the Poseidon cabin. Bryn headed to the Zeus cabin to relax before her first training session of the day. Chiron had been going easy on her, Silena, Luke, and Derek ever since Tartarus. The girls were handling it better than the guys, but not by much.

As Bryn approached her cabin, a foul stench assaulted her nose. It made her gag. Holding her nose, she searched the surrounding area for what was causing the smell. It didn't take her long to find it. On the beach were a dozen, dead Harpies. She didn't like the weird bird creatures but she didn't want them dead. Bryn dropped down next to one, trying to figure out what had happened to them.

"Bryn?!" Brady called out. Suddenly her brother was next to her. "What happened?"

"I-I don't know. I smelled something really bad when I was going to my cabin and I just found them… I just found them all dead like this. Go get Chiron. He needs to know about this."

"I'm not leaving you out here by yourself!" He argued.

"I'll be fine! I'm going to try and figure out what killed them. Go find Chiron, now!"

Reluctantly, her brother ran off to find the centaur. A few moments later Luke skidded next to her.

"Are you okay?" he demanded, resting a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm fine," she replied, standing up to shrug off his hand. He stood up with her.

"You sure?"

"Yeah. I'm just trying to figure out what killed all these harpies. I mean who would've done it?"

"These look like sword cuts. My guess is it wasn't a monster."

"Are you saying it was a demigod?"

"What else could it be? Only demigods, harpies, and Chiron live at camp?"

Bryn rubbed her temples. "I'm not ready for another bloody Hannah."

Luke tried to pull her into a hug but she shied away from him, walking circles around the pile of dead harpies. Luke sighed out, "Did I do something?"

"I don't want to pester you," she said shortly.

"Since when have you ever pestered me?" he inquired, sounding genuinely confused.

"Oh you made it very clear last night that I pester you."

"Last night? I was asleep all of last night," he argued.

"I've seen you lie yourself out of a lot of situations but this will not be one of them Luke Jackson."

"Bryn, I don't know what you're talking about!" he exclaimed in exasperation.

"How can you-"

"What's going on here?" Chiro demanded, cantering up to the two demigods with the twins, Hallie, and other cabin leaders behind him.

"Just a couple's argument," Luke said.

"He means about the dead harpies," Bryn snapped. Her boyfriend flinched at her tone. Bradley and Brady raised their eyebrows in surprise. Turning to Chiron, she said, "I smelled something horrible and came to investigate. I found them all like this. Luke mentioned that it looks like the cuts were done by a sword."

"He'd be correct," Chiron agreed, walking slowly around the harpies, studying them. "Most likely a demigod. I doubt one of the dragons did this and the gods would not go on a rampage like this. They have tempers but not like this. They take stuff out on each other, not innocent harpies."

"Why would a demigod do this though?" Silena asked.

"A good question my dear to which I have no answer to. Cabin leaders, I want you investigating your own cabins. If you think someone is acting suspicious, report them to me."

"Sir, what are we going to do with the bodies?" George, the new leader of the Apollo cabin, piped up.

Chiron sighed. "They deserve a burial but I hate to waste a food source. Give them to the dragons. Bryn, call them. Four to Peleus, four to Drogon, four to Viserion, and four to Rhaegal."

The daughter of Zeus stood up. She made three lightning bolts strike in quick succession, the signal for the dragons to come to her. It was less than a minute before Drogon, Viserion, and Rhaegal appeared on the horizon, skimming the water. The campers backed up to allow the dragons to land but the Winchesters walked up to greet them. Drogon nuzzled Bryn.

"Hey big boy," she whispered, kissing him on the nose.

"Patrick, Joan, Mack, Jasmine, each of you take a harpy body to Peleus. Bryn, Bradley, Brady, when the dragons are done eating, take them and scout the entirety of the camp perimeter. Each of you take someone with you as back up."

"Silena, care to join?" Brady offered.

"I'm in," she responded immediately.

"Hallie?" Bradley queried. She smiled at him, giving him her answer.

"Derek, you're with me," Bryn said.

"All right," he agreed hesitantly. She saw him glance over at Luke, confusion etched on his face. The latter shook his head just slightly. Derek came to stand by Bryn. Once the rest of the leaders were gone, leaving just Silena, the twins, Hallie, Derek, and Bryn, Derek leaned in next to his friend and asked, "Trouble in paradise?"

"It's hardly paradise when your boyfriend doesn't want to be with you," she mumbled.

"What on earth do you mean? Of course he wants to be with you."

"That's not what it sounded like to me last night."

"What did he do?"

"It's not what he did, it's what he said. I'm worried about him because he won't tell me anything about the dreams he's having and when I told him the consequences of what would happen to him if he kept it bottled up, he got angry with me, saying, and I quote, 'if I'd knew that having a girlfriend meant I'd be relentlessly asked to share my feelings, I never would've gotten one.' Then he walked out."

"What in Hades' name is wrong with him? That doesn't sound like him."

"I don't know. He's playing stupid. He's saying he doesn't remember the conversation last night. Bradley and Brady said they'd talk to him but I don't know how far they got."

"That's weird what he's doing. Don't let it get to you okay? We all went through something we'll never be able to understand fully and the consequences of it could be worse than we know." Bryn bit her lip, not wanting to voice what she feared most would happen, but Derek knew her too well. "Hey, he's not going to break up with you. He said some crappy stuff to you last night but I do know he loves you. Very, very much. Come on, let's go see if there's any more dead harpies."

Bryn nodded. The two of them hopped onto Drogon who then pushed off the ground. The scouting didn't take long, and they didn't find any more piles of dead harpies. They reported their findings back to Chiron who was meeting with the other cabin leaders to set up new perimeters and new guard positions. Luke was braced against the table, staring down at the map of Camp Half-Blood. Despite being angry at him, she still loved him, and Bryn could still most definitely appreciate his muscles that were bulging in his arms right now. As if feeling her glance on him, he looked up at her. She studiously acted as if she was looking at the map as well.

"Bryn, Luke, Silena, Derek, you four I want on the beach. It's the easiest route of access for someone to slip past our wards into camp. Bradley, Brady, Hallie, since you three will be here a while, I want you three at the entrance. The others will be sporadically placed around the borders of the camp. Until we know what's going on, camp is going to be on high alert. Now go to your training sessions if you have some."

Bryn, Luke, Derek, Silena, Hallie, and the twins left the Big House. Hallie, Silena, and Derek went to go train in archery. The remaining four went for sword fighting.

"Hey, me and Bradley versus you and Luke," Brady suggested, nudging his sister.

Luke grinned. "This will be fun."

"You're going down Jackson," Bradley challenged, a gleam settling in his eyes.

"No mutilating my boyfriend," Bryn warned.

"But aren't you mad at him?"

"Just because I'm mad doesn't mean I want you two killing him."

"Thanks for that," Luke said.

Brady grinned. "You know, couples who slay together-"

"Stay together," Bradley finished.

"That is one of the worst lines I've ever heard come out of your mouth," Bryn groaned.

"I kind of like it," Luke admitted.

"Glad you like it!" Brady laughed. "Doesn't mean you're getting out of us trying to kick your ass."

"Damn it…"

The four demigods put on armor and elongated their swords. Luke and Bryn were on one side, the twins on the other. Bryn made the first move, slashing her sword at Bradley. He met her sword with his, grinning. Out of the corner of her eye she say Brady swipe his sword at Luke's legs; her boyfriend blocked the swing and kicked the Winchester twin in the stomach.

Bryn went in for another blow but then feinted to the right, spinning around her brother and kicking him in the butt. She backed up next to Luke, preparing for her brothers' next attack.

"So when are we going to finish our earlier conversation?" Luke inquired, swinging his sword over his hand.

"When you admit to me you remember the conversation," she countered, ducking as Bradley swung his sword at her head.

"But I don't remember the conversation!" Luke protested.

"How can you not remember it?!" Bryn growled. Lightning struck the ground, sending her brothers back. She rushed over, pulling a dagger to Brady's throat and putting her sword to Bradley's. Luke rushed over when Bradley tried to hit Bryn's sword away.

"Uncle?" Luke asked.

"Uncle," the twins groaned in unison. Bryn allowed her brothers to stand up. They asked for a rematch but she declined, saying she was going to go train some new campers. She heard Luke say her name but ignored him. When he was ready to admit what he said, she'd listen.

She approached some new campers who were sparring but neither were lasting long. As she started instructing them, she kept her eyes on her brothers and Luke, more so out of worry for Luke's safety since he seemed to be going up against both her brothers. They were only sparring with wooden poles but those things hurt if you got hit enough and hard enough. They'd taken their shirts off since they hot summer air was making them sweat. Bryn was tempted to take off her shirt and just walk around in her sports bra but she felt uncomfortable at the thought of it. Of course, she did appreciate seeing Luke shirtless. He looked good in everything, but shirtless was one her favorites.

"Bryn?" one of the girls snapped their fingers in front of her face.

She shook her head. "Sorry, got distracted."

"Well yeah, your boyfriend is hot," the girl remarked. Bryn couldn't help but smile. She went back to training the kids. This went on for an hour. Once training was done, she practiced at the archery arena, ran around the track a few times, climbed the lava wall, and grabbed a book from the library. Chiron had ordered some new ones and Bryn had only two left to read. Both were about monsters, modern and ancient. Since modern monsters were more prevalent in her life, she left the ancient monsters book for the last to read.

Bryn went to her cabin, putting the book on her nightstand and pulling out her laptop. She had a bunch of work to do for her parents. She started reading the business report of her company. It was over fifty pages which didn't appeal to her but it had to be done.

Halfway through the article, Silena poked her head into the cabin. "What are you doing?"

"Reading stuff about my parents' company," Bryn answered. "What's up?"

"Hallie, the twins, Derek, Luke, and I are heading to the city for dinner tonight. You're coming right?"

"I'd love to but I have so much stuff to do for Aurum Arms that I can't possibly go out tonight."

"Bryn, I know you're telling the truth but I also know when you're hiding stuff. What's the other reason you don't want to go? Is it Luke?"

"How did-"

"Oh please, the tension between you two at the dead harpies sight was blatant to everyone. All the people are gossiping about what's going on between you two and some Aphrodite girls are already planning on making a move on Luke."

"They need to back off," Bryn growled. Taking a deep breath, she said, "It's just he said stuff to me last night that he somehow doesn't remember but I don't know how because in a nutshell, it sounded like he was regretting asking me out. I'm mad that he's lying to me because I know what I heard, Silena. I know what I heard but he's adamantly denying it. But then he's also mad that I'm pestering him about his dreams and it's just because I'm worried about him that I'm asking but I fear if I keep prodding I'm afraid he's going to break up with me and you know, this is why I never wanted a boyfriend. Too much drama. I don't know how to handle these emotions. Fear in battle, sadness, anger, happiness, I know how to react to those. I don't know how to handle fear in love. It's not exactly like I have a lot of experience in the subject."

"Okay, first off take a breath. That'll help. Second, Luke is head over heels in love with you. Third, I don't think my brother meant what he said, especially if he says he doesn't remember it. I mean maybe he was sleepwalking. We're demigods. Stranger things have been known to happen than demigods arguing with people when they're sleepwalking. Look, Luke's miserable because he knows he hurt you and while I believe you, I also believe him. Talk to him tomorrow when you've gotten some sleep and when you don't have so much work to do. But you know, a break from the work would be good. You should still come with us."

"I'm going to stay, but thank you." Bryn smiled at her friend. Silena hugged her.

"All right, but it's not going to be as fun with you not there."

"Oh yes, because I'm such a party person," Bryn laughed. The Jackson girl rolled her eyes, half amused, half annoyed by the sarcasm. She left the cabin.

Bryn continued to work, only taking a break to eat dinner and shower. She fell asleep with her laptop on her lap, still playing music. She only woke up when she felt someone lifting it off. Luke stared at her with startled blue eyes.

"I didn't mean to wake you. I know I'm kind of the last person you want to see right now," he whispered.

She groggily sat up. "It's fine. Did you have fun?"

He shrugged as he placed the laptop on the floor. "As much as you can when you're an awkward fifth wheel. I got bored after a couple hours and hightailed it out of there. I'll, uh, let you get some sleep. Good night."

Luke kissed her on the top of her head before leaving. Bryn was so exhausted she just fell back onto her pillow and went back to sleep. At first she had relatively normal dreams, ones that didn't involve Tartarus, although they were still weird. But then of course the nightmares made themselves known. Abruptly the dream shifted and Bryn was back in Tartarus.

* * *

 _She was paralyzed as she watched Luke, Derek, and Silena fight for their lives against the_ arai _. Derek and Silena went down. Luke kept fighting. He was knocked to his knees by an_ arai _. Just as it went in for the kill, the monster stopped, clawing at its throat. All of them were. Suddenly they exploded into thin air. Luke staggered up, his gaze turning to Bryn. But she barely recognized him. His face was contorted with rage, his eyes were no longer blue but a terrifying blood red. Her body still refused to move as he stalked towards her, eyes boring into her with the clear intent of murdering her then and there._

" _Get up," he ordered angrily, snapping his fingers. The feeling in her body came back. Bryn slowly got up, staring him down despite her brain screaming at her to run as far away from him as possible._

" _Luke, what-"_

" _I finally realized all my potential. I finally realized what I can_ do _. It must hurt your rock hard ego to know that I'm more powerful than you." Luke placed his hand around on her throat. He wasn't just putting it there as a threat, but also as a stance of dominance: he was in control of this situation and he wanted her to know that._

" _I don't care that you're more powerful than me. I care about the fact that this isn't you," Bryn breathed._

" _Oh no, this is me. This is who I've always been, I just needed the right situation to show me that. So thank you for getting paralyzed and helping me realize my full potential." He grinned wickedly. "Still love me darling?"_

" _I do. And I'm going to save you from yourself," she declared._

 _He laughed. "Oh my dear Cat Woman, the only way you can stop me from being this way is to kill me. Do you have the guts to do that? I don't think you do."_

 _Her body acted on its own accord. She had no control over it as her hand grabbed her dagger and stabbed Luke in the back, severing his spinal cord. She heard herself scream as she did so. Luke's eyes flickered to the familiar blue she knew, but they were terrified._

" _Br-Bryn, what… what did you-" He stammered._

" _Oh gods," she cried. Luke went deadweight in her arms. She went down to the ground with him. Cradling his face, she whispered, "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry."_

" _You- you killed me." Those were his last words before he slumped into her. She couldn't feel his heartbeat._

" _Luke? No," she whimpered. "No, no, no, no…"_

 _Bryn rocked back and forth, back and forth. She couldn't handle this. She couldn't do this._

* * *

Bryn rocketed into sitting position, hyperventilating from the sheer terror of her dream. Bradley and Brady were sacked out in their beds. Not wanting to wake them up, she decided to go outside. Her legs felt like jelly as she stood. As quietly as she could, she exited her cabin. Her first instinct was to go to Luke but when she reminded herself of how she'd been treating him lately, she figured it was best if she didn't. Instead she went to the dock, sitting on the edge of it and staring into the water.

Her hyperventilating had ceased but she was still terrified. Bryn broke down crying. No dream, in her twenty one years of being alive, had ever made her cry. They'd scared, they'd made her angry, but never upset to the point she cried.

"Bryn?" Luke's voice asked. She lifted her head at the sound of her name.

"Hmm?" she forced herself to reply.

"What are you doing out here? It's dangerous out here. We still haven't caught the harpy killer." He started walking up to her. She turned her head so he wouldn't see that she was crying.

"Nightmare," she mumbled.

Luke sat next to her. "What happened?"

Bryn shook her head, trying to tell him she didn't want to talk about it. But when he placed his hand on her back, her resolve left. She started crying again as she explained everything that had happened in the dream. Luke pulled her body against his in an attempt to comfort her.

"Why didn't you come get in my bed when this happened?"

"I thought with us arguing, you wouldn't-"

"No matter what's going on between us, if you ever have a nightmare and need someone to talk to, you can always come to me. Always."

"I'm sorry I've been such a bitch to you."

"You have right to be from what I've heard. Both your brothers and Silena talked to me."

"Do you really not remember what you said?"

"I really don't. But from what I was told, I gave you the impression that I regretted asking you to be my girlfriend and I want to make it explicitly clear that I do not regret you being my girlfriend. What prompted me to say that in the first place?"

"I was asking you what your dreams were about. I guess I pushed too hard."

Luke tensed, pulling away from her. "It's not that I don't want to tell you the dreams, it's just I don't know how without you… without you treating me differently."

"Why would I treat you differently because of your dreams?"

"They're bad Bryn. You told me never to use a certain power of mine after Tartarus and I haven't, but in some of my dreams, I do, and I'm always…" Luke stopped himself. Bryn stared at him. His jaw was clenching and unclenching.

"You're always what?" Bryn whispered.

"I'm always killing… I'm always killing…" Luke rubbed his face. He couldn't get the words out. Bryn narrowed her eyes in on his hands.

"Are you killing random people or people you know?"

"Both. It's like I'm taking over the world. It's always y-" Luke choked up on the words.

"It's always me?" Bryn finished.

He nodded. "You. Always you."

"You're not going to kill me. And those dreams are not going to make me think any different of you. You're still my handsome, dorky, loveable boyfriend who would die for his family and friends."

"That- that's not all that happens. The feeling I get when I kill you in these dreams… it's not right what I feel. I'm always watching from third person, so I'm always looking down at myself and whoever the victim is but Ifeelwhat I'm feeling _and_ what the Luke I'm watching is feeling and so while I feel mortified and terrified and heartbroken that I just killed my girlfriend, the Luke I'm watching _loves_ it. He _revels_ in the fact that he killed you…" Bryn placed a hand on his shoulder. She was shocked to find him shaking.

"Luke, hey, look at me. Tartarus nearly destroyed the four of us. The aftershocks of it are going to be worse than anything any of us can know or imagine. Your dreams are one of those aftershocks and I can promise you, the things that _you_ are feeling are what you feel, not the Luke killing the people in your dreams. You won't kill me. No matter what happens, you won't kill me."

"How do you know that?" he asked in exasperation.

"Because I know _you_. You would stop yourself from killing me if the situation ever arose."

"I'm scared I'm slowly going insane. I'm not remembering conversations, I'm waking up in different places in the Poseidon cabin. For all I know I could've killed those harpies without realizing it."

"Don't say that. That's not true. You're probably sleepwalking."

"I hope that's all it is."

"What do you say we try and go get some rest? Let's go to your cabin though. Bradley and Brady still don't like the idea of you and me in the same bed. At least not when they're in the same room as us."

"I sometimes feel like they don't like me in general. Your brothers had a lot of fun whacking me with sticks earlier," Luke laughed.

"They called me after our conversation last night because they said their 'spidey senses were tingling' and felt something was wrong. Probably were a little mad at you," she admitted sheepishly.

Luke turned around. "You got so upset your brothers felt your emotions and called you?"

"Yeah. They'll be fine with you tomorrow when they realize we're fine again."

"No, Bryn, that's not right my words hurt you so much. I'm so sorry."

"Don't worry about it. You don't remember it."

"Yeah but I hurt you…"

"And you didn't mean to. Don't beat yourself up about it." Luke mumbled something to himself but Bryn ignored it, taking his hand in hers. They went back to the Poseidon cabin. Bryn crawled into the bed. Luke sat on the side of the bed so he could take his shirt off. Bryn glanced over at him when she saw the long slash on his back. It wasn't deep but it had broken the skin enough that the wound had scabbed over.

"Luke, where did you get that?" Bryn inquired, lightly trailing her fingers over the injury.

"Get what?"

"This scratch on your back."

"I didn't even know I had one. It was probably when I was sparring with Bradley and Brady with the sticks. They got a few hits to my back."

"Next time wear a shirt. It's not that I don't like you without a shirt but you get injured more easily when you have no protection."

"You liked watching me workout shirtless?" Luke queried, grinning cheekily at her.

She lightly slapped his arm, trying to hide her smile. "I'm being serious."

"Don't worry about it. It doesn't hurt at all." Luke lay back on his pillow. Bryn turned on her side. Luke pressed his stomach against her back, draping his arm over her waist. Kissing her on the cheek, he whispered a 'good night' and an 'I love you.' She responded with the same sentiments. Luke fell asleep almost immediately. Bryn was soon to follow.

* * *

 **Such a long chapter for my very deserving readers! Reviews would be lovely :)**


	3. That's Cruel and Unusual Punishment

**I just realized with what I have planned for the story, I think your reactions are going to be pretty similar to this gif…**

 **Anywho, enjoy the chapter!**

 **Chapter Quote:  
** " **I will literally open my mouth not knowing what is coming out."  
** **~Leo Kottke**

* * *

Chapter 3: That's Cruel and Unusual Punishment

 **Silena**

Luke and Bryn were back together. Silena knew they wouldn't be able to argue for long. She had no idea who initiated 'the talk' but was glad it'd happened. She was tired of seeing those two down. They'd all had enough tragedy in our lives.

"Silena!" Derek called out, jogging up to her. "Okay, so Hades, Poseidon, and Athena have an alliance for capture the flag. Zeus is siding with Ares, Hermes and Hephaestus."

"How did Bryn manage to get the largest cabin on her side?" Silena groaned.

"Because half the Hermes cabin has a crush on her, and the Ares kids like her fighting style. Hephaestus is a swing team."

"What about Nike?"

"Our side. So is Dionysus, Hecate, and Nemesis. Aphrodite and Demeter are on theirs."

"At least we have Apollo on our side. They're as big as the Hermes one. Okay, let's go round up the campers and start planning." Silena and Derek walked to their podium. Bryn was already at hers with her allies surrounding her. Silena wanted to know what she had planned.

"Gather around!" Derek called. Their allied cabins listened. Turning to his girlfriend, Derek added, "It's all yours."

"Okay, I want half of the Athena cabin, half of the Apollo cabin, and Nike to lead the charge. I want the other half of Athena and Apollo to spread out in front of the flag in these places. Leave no area unguarded. Hecate, Dionysus, I want you guys closer to the flag in a smaller perimeter. Nemesis, I want you guarding the flag. Derek, Luke, Hallie, and I will go after the flag. If one of you sees an opportunity in the line and think you can get to the flag, make a break for it. Just be positive you can do it. We can't have all of you rushing after their flag and leaving ours unguarded. Now does everyone know the plan?"

There was a murmur of yeses. Luke dismissed them to their battle positions. He smiled over at Bryn who came jogging over.

"Just thought I'd wish you luck before the game," she said.

"It's you who's going to need luck. Silena's plan is brilliant," he responded, grinning at her.

"Are any of her plans ever not brilliant?"

"So what are the bets?"

"Let's switch it up: I'll bet on your team this time," Bryn said.

"And I'll bet on yours," Luke said. "What are the stakes for the losing team?"

"Loser buys dinner?" Derek suggested.

"No chocolate for two weeks?" Bryn piped up.

"Now that's cruel and unusual punishment," Luke argued.

"Oh is it?" Bryn bit back a smile. "Well I promise if you lose, I won't eat any chocolate in front of you."

"No chocolate for two weeks it is," Derek confirmed. "I really hope I don't lose this one."

"May the force be with you," Luke said. Giving Bryn a kiss, Luke jogged off. Bryn said bye to the rest of the group, grinning ear to ear as she walked to her position.

Silena, Derek, and Hallie met up with Luke in the center of the battle field. Luke and Hallie would go for the flag via the water. Derek would create an underground tunnel that would lead to the flag and try and get it that way with Silena.

The demigods lined up. Luke was staring at Bryn, a huge grin on his face. She smirked back at him but something was off. The smirk didn't seem… Bryn-like. But Silena had no time to think about that. The start signal went off and the battle began. Bryn charged at Luke, flipping over him when he rushed her. Silena caught a glimpse of her friend and it dawned on her why something felt so off.

 _It wasn't Bryn_.

"Luke! That's not Bryn! She's gone after the flag!"

"Those aren't her brothers either!" he shouted back, ducking under the imposter's sword.

"Where are they?!"

"Probably with their sister!"

"We don't have time to think about that- Silena, tunnel's created," Derek announced. She took his hand before jumping down into it with him. Lighting himself on fire, her boyfriend led the way down the tunnel. It was eerily silent, especially since she knew what was going on above her.

"Most likely the flag will be away from water. Bryn probably assumed that's how you or Luke would go for it," Derek remarked.

"And it's probably not on solid ground either. It'd make it too easy for you or Hallie to get it."

"It shouldn't be suspending in midair, although if she or her brothers are guarding it, that's actually a possibility."

"It's probably at Zeus's fist or somewhere nearby."

"It'll be nearby. There's a creek that runs by the rock formation and Bryn wouldn't put it near a place that could give you or Luke power."

"Let's come out at Zeus's fist and we'll work from there."

"That should be coming up soon." Derek and Silena continued walking for about five more minutes before he stopped, opening a hole in the ground above them. He lifted Silena up to the ground before pushing himself into the air via fire.

Silena stared at the rock formation known as Zeus's fist. She praised Derek for his accuracy of getting them to their intended destination.

"I've been practicing," he replied, smiling proudly. The two of them trudged through the forest, keeping a look out for any enemy demigods. They didn't come across any until they found the flag, which, unfortunately, happened to be Bryn and a fighter from Ares. Luke and Hallie were to a tree with vines.

Silena and Derek hid behind a tree, determining how they were going to be able to get the flag now that their backup was out of commission. Bryn had her helmet off as she stood in front of Luke, a triumphant smile on her face.

"You're enjoying having me tied up aren't you?" Luke asked.

"Thoroughly," Bryn replied.

"I'll keep that in mind next time we-" Bryn clamped her hands over his mouth which only made him laugh. When she took her hands off, he said, "Still enjoying this?"

"I can stop your sword from running me through but apparently I can't keep you from running your mouth."

"Oh yes you can, and you know exactly how to do that."

"I would do it here but we're in the middle of a battle and I'm pretty sure if we continue this conversation, Hallie is going to puke. I think we're making her nauseous with this 'couple talk.' Later I'll shut you up." Bryn kissed Luke on the nose before pacing back and forth.

"Bryn could've subdued either Luke or Hallie but the Ares kid couldn't have," Silena whispered.

"The twins are probably nearby. We need to be careful. What do you say I shadow travel to the flag?"

"You do that, I'll distract them?"

"Be careful." Derek disappeared out of view. Silena snuck around to the tree her brother and Hallie were tied to. Uncapping her sword, Silena cut the ivy ropes. Hallie went straight for the Ares kid. Luke crept towards his girlfriend. Just as he was about to disarm Bryn, she whirled around, sword a centimeter from his throat.

"I could've decapitated you just then," She remarked.

"But you didn't," he countered. Luke knocked Bryn's sword away, making an attack of his own. While Silena let them battle it out, she went for the flag, only to have Derek blasted from behind a cluster of trees directly into her. They fell to the ground, grumbling in pain.

"Sorry," Derek groaned. "The twins… they were expecting me."

"I noticed," Silena responded, getting up. Only one of the twins remained in view. Silena ran at him with her sword. Their swords clanged together.

"Hello," the twin said.

"Which one are you?"

"Can you still not tell us apart?" he laughed.

"No," she replied sheepishly.

"I'm Bradley. Brady's taking care of your boyfriend." As if on cue, Derek and Brady came out of the cluster of trees in a fierce sword fight, almost _too_ fierce in her opinion, and the ferocity seemed to be coming from her boyfriend. Taking advantage of her distractedness, Bradley flipped Silena over onto her stomach. He pulled out some rope and tied her hands behind her back.

"If you don't mind, I need to go help my brother. No hard feelings right?" Bradley left before she could answer. She assessed the situation. Hallie was equally matched with the Ares kid. Luke had Bryn pinned to the ground by sitting on top of her with his sword hovering over her throat. At one point, Luke jumped and he exclaimed, "Hey! Stop zapping me in the butt!"

Bryn laughed. She turned her head, giving Silena a head nod. Then the daughter of Zeus's attention turned to Derek who had beaten Bradley by swiping his legs out from underneath him. Bradley's sword flew into the air, clattering a good ten feet away. Brady was the last opponent to face before Derek could get to the flag. Derek charged him, ramming into the demigod's stomach. Brady went down, but rather than getting up and getting the flag, Derek continued to try and beat up Brady.

"Derek!" Bryn shouted. "Stop!"

He didn't listen. The Winchester twin was throwing his hands up in defense. Bradley was slowly standing up, almost as if he was in a daze. Silena strained against the ropes binding her hands. She needed to get to Derek to get him to stop. Bryn continued shouting, Luke had gotten off of her by now and was running over to his friend. Bryn was right beside him. When Luke tried grab Derek from behind, the latter hit the former in the groin. Luke went down. Bryn kicked Derek off her brother. She quickly dragged her brother away. Derek got back up but rather than going for Brady again, his target changed to Bryn. She dodged out of his way but let out a cry as he ran past. Blood started oozing from her arm. She clasped her hand over the wound. Derek shoved her out of the way, heading straight for Brady again. Suddenly a lightning bolt blasted him in the chest, sending him flying twenty feet away. Silena ran to her boyfriend. He was out cold.

Hallie came to kneel next to Silena. She untied the Jackson daughter's hands.

"Brady?" Bryn said. "Brady can you hear me?"

The son of Zeus didn't respond.

"Brady!" Bradley shouted. "Wake up!"

Silena could hear the Charmspeak in the twin's voice. It must've worked because she heard Brady groan.

"Oh thank gods," Bryn breathed. "Luke, help Silena get Derek to the infirmary. Bradley and I will take Brady. Hallie, go tell Chiron-"

"Bryn! We won!" Thera exclaimed, crashing onto the scene with the Poseidon flag, the rest of the Ares cabin behind her. Chiron came cantering behind them. Everyone fell silent at the sight before them.

"What happened here?" Chiron asked.

"Derek tried to kill Brady," Bradley said furiously, glaring over at Silena's passed out boyfriend. "I had to shoot him with a lightning bolt to get him to stop."

"And by stop you mean nearly try and kill him yourself?" Silena retorted.

"He almost killed my brother!"

"A lightning bolt to get him away would've sufficed!"

"Enough! None of this should've happened in the first place, and we need to figure out why it did," Bryn intervened, standing up.

"Bradley, help your brother onto my back so I can get him to the infirmary. Hallie, Silena, help Derek to the infirmary. He seems to be waking up," Chiron said. "The rest of you, Capture the Flag has ended with Zeus's side the victors!"

Weak cheers rose up. Chiron cantered off with the Winchester twins. Hallie and Silena looped Derek's arms around their shoulders to carry him.

"So," Luke said. "I guess this means I win the bet."

Bryn hit him in the stomach.

* * *

 **What's going on with the boys? Let me know a review (hint hint)! :)**


	4. I'm Not An Open Book

**Exam stress is suddenly getting to me so have a chapter :)**

 **Chapter Quote:  
** " **There are wounds that never show on the body that are deeper and more hurtful than anything that bleeds."  
** _ **~Mistral's Kiss**_ **, Laurell K. Hamilton**

* * *

Chapter 4: I'm Not An Open Book

 **Luke**

The air crackled with energy to the point where Luke felt that at any moment a lightning bolt was going to strike him down. Of course, then he remembered the joke he'd made earlier about being tied up and wondered if Zeus was getting ready to strike him down for that. Just as a precaution, Luke slipped Bryn's hand into his. Instantly the air calmed which meant either Bryn had been causing it or her dad knew striking Luke down with a lightning bolt would be relatively ineffective since he was holding onto Zeus's lightning-proof daughter. Either way, Luke felt safer.

When the two of them arrived at the infirmary, only Bradley and Brady were there, with the latter groaning on a hospital bed with a swollen face. Bryn asked, "How's he doing?"

"Dazed," Bradley answered. "Chiron determined he had a moderate concussion but with ambrosia and nectar, it should be gone by tomorrow as should most of the swelling."

"Where's Derek?" Luke queried.

"Chiron thought it best we keep him separated from Brady since he tried to kill him. Last I heard he was in the Hades cabin with Silena and Hallie."

"I'll go see him," Bryn said.

"You need to do something about that gash on your arm before you go anywhere."

Bryn glanced down at her arm. "It doesn't hurt."

"How in Hades' name does that not hurt? That's a least three inches long and a few centimeters deep!" he argued.

His sister dismissed his worry with a wave of her hand. "It's nothing. I've been through worse."

Bradley turned to Luke, silently demanding an answer to his sister's apparent obliviousness to the seriousness of her wound.

"Hey Cat Woman, you might not feel pain but your brother's right. It might have damaged some muscle and you really probably shouldn't be losing that much blood. I mean I'm no doctor but you've lost at least quart or a pint, most of which is a trail in the woods," Luke remarked. With a sigh, Bryn muttered she'd go get a bandage to put on. Bradley mouthed a thank you to the Jackson boy which he returned with a nod. Bryn tried putting on the bandage herself but gave up after five minutes and had Luke do it. She took a swig of some nectar and ate a square of ambrosia.

"I'll come check on you two later. I'm going to go see Derek. Luke, do you want to come?" Bryn questioned.

"Actually, I wanted to talk to Luke. Can he catch up with you?" Bradley requested.

"Uh, sure. Just don't kill him. I'll see you later." She gave Luke a peck on the cheek before leaving. Once she was gone, he turned to her brother, awkwardly waiting for him to say something.

"You two doing better?" Bradley questioned, leaning back in his chair.

"They better be," Brady mumbled. "I have enough of a headache from this concussion. I don't need one from sensing Bryn's distressed emotions."

"Go back to sleep. Or else you're not going to heal," Bradley stated. It looked like his twin made a face at him but the swelling made it hard to tell.

"We're better, thank the gods."

"How is she doing?"

"From what I know and from what I can tell, she's handling all this better than me. Silena appears to be doing just as good as Bryn. It seems as if Derek and I are the ones not handling this well."

"Did Bryn really not feel anything from that gash?"

"I don't think she did. She cried out when it happened but that was it. She didn't pay attention to it afterwards. Maybe it's because she was focused on her worry for Brady and her confusion by Derek's actions, but more probable is that she experienced worse pain in Tartarus and something like that, despite how bad it looked, it wasn't bad to her."

"She never speaks of Tartarus to us. She always tells us 'one day' but I don't think that day is ever going to come. I've even tried talking to Silena and Derek and I've noticed that's the one thing the three of them have in common after coming back from Tartarus: they refuse to talk about it. I have a feeling you'll do the same."

"It depends on what you ask me," Luke replied quietly.

"What happened down there that's so terrible that none of you can speak about it?"

"It wasn't just physical pain we endured down there. The mental abuse from the atmosphere and the nightmares and some of the monster encounters we had and just some of the things we did, it's indescribable. The worst attack was by the _arai_. That's when it all kind of went south for all of us. Bryn took on a paralysis curse early on in the battle along with a silencing curse. All she could do was watch me and the others try and fend for ourselves. Silena incurred a blindness curse, Derek went deaf. That's when the _arai_ physically attacked them, biting them and slashing them with their whip-like tails. I-" Luke halted in his speech. His mind was going back to that time and it was a dangerous place for him to go to. Even now, two months later, he still shuddered at the thought of what he'd done, but more so at the feelings he'd felt when he'd done that thing.

"Luke," Bradley said, bringing him back to reality. "What happened to you? With the _arai_? Did you get curses as well?"

Luke nodded. "The only one I remember is the Boomslang venom. It made me bleed out of different orifices of my body."

"How did you defeat them?"

"Don't ask me that."

"Why not?"

"What I did down in Tartarus to defeat those old hags… it's something I can't speak of. It's something I will never be able to speak of. But so you know the extent of how serious my actions were, in that moment when I did what I did, for that battle, Bryn looked absolutely petrified of me. I promised myself I would never make her scared of me like that again."

"Is it a power?"

"Yeah."

"You did it to save your friends. Besides using the power, you saw no other option but death."

"I promised Bryn I wouldn't use the power again. I'm going to keep that promise." What Luke didn't say was that he'd already broken his promise in Tartarus. Every time he thought about it, he wondered if his breaking the promise was the reason Bryn had really gotten killed. He'd been lucky enough to be given a second chance with her, and this time he was going to keep her promise to her.

"I'm sorry," Bradley said. "For everything you've been through."

"Thanks… my dad said it would get better with time but that it would take years for us to overcome it, and he said even then some fears and dreams will never leave us."

"It's terrible that your dad and mum went through Tartarus like you did, but at least you know someone who can tell you what to expect. Unlike your dad and mum, you have people who can tell you what's relatively normal for someone who's just come out of Tartarus."

"I can't tell them though. I've barely told anyone of what I'm feeling. I've barely even told Bryn which apparently is what started our fight the other night which I still have no recollection of."

"Why not?"

"Can't bring myself to do it. It's like the words physically won't come out of my mouth."

"Well when you do feel like you can talk about it, know that any of us will listen. We may act like we want to kill you half the time, and that's because half the time we do, but you're still a friend, and we're still here for you."

"I appreciate that Bradley. I truly do."

"I have a question for you," Brady grumbled.

"I thought I told you to get some sleep, idiot?" Bradley remarked in annoyance.

"I _have_ a question," the twin declared. Turning his head to Luke, he asked, "In regards to your comment about being tied up, is it true you and Bryn have really-"

Luke burst out laughing, interrupting the question. Once he regained his composure, he responded, "No, we have definitely done nothing of the sort. I was just trying to embarrass her. Which it worked. We've only been dating two months and while yeah, some couples may've done it already, we're taking it slow. On that note, because it is actually kind of embarrassing talking about this with my girlfriend's brothers, I'm going to go find Bryn and make sure Derek hasn't killed her or vice versa. I'll see you two soon."

Luke hurried out of the infirmary, heading towards the Hades cabin. He'd just raised his hand to knock when Hallie opened the door.

"Is Bryn here?" he asked. His girlfriend's head popped up from behind Hallie.

"Hey, what did my brother want to talk to you about?"

"Making sure I wasn't serious about my being tied up comment. Derek in there too?"

"Oh my gods…" Bryn groaned, banging her head on the door.

"Derek shadow-travelled out of here a few seconds ago. He's really upset over what happened. We were trying to figure out where he was when you came up," Hallie explained. A sly expression settled on her face. "Have you two-"

"No!" Bryn said vehemently.

"Okay, just a question!"

"Wait, where's Silena?" Luke inquired.

"She grabbed onto Derek before he shadow-travelled so she's probably wherever he is."

"I hope she's okay," Luke said. "What if Derek-"

"Derek's fully sane again. He has no recollection of what happened, which reminds me, Hallie, I need to speak with you privately after we find Derek."

"Am I not allowed in this conversation?" Luke queried.

"Not quite yet, but I'll let you know soon. Now, since you're a grandson of Athena, would you like to help us figure out where the son of Hades is?"

"You know I've never been that strong with my Athenian powers," he said, stepping into the Hades cabin.

"You've proved adept at them on more than one occasion."

Luke rubbed his hands together. "Okay, let's see what I can come up with."

* * *

 **Bryn**

It took four hours before they were finally able to find Derek, and in all honesty, it was more like Derek found them. They'd all but given up on trying to find him. Luke was laying on Derek's bed, his head hanging upside down off the edge and his legs propped against the wall. Bryn was using his stomach as a pillow. Hallie was sprawled out, face down, on her bed, banging her head in aggravation.

"See? I told you they'd be worried about you," Silena's voice piped up.

"Derek!" Bryn exclaimed, jumping from the bed. Hallie was suddenly standing too. Luke tried to roll legs over head onto the floor but ended up falling ungracefully onto the ground.

"I found him!" Luke said, pointing to the son of Hades.

"Why thank you. I couldn't see without your pointing," Bryn told him. He nudged her playfully.

"Where have you been?!" Hallie demanded, throwing her arms around her brother. He didn't return it, more so because he looked too shocked to.

"Uh, I-"

"We were so worried about you!" Bryn added, hugging Derek once Hallie had released him.

"Dude, what happened to you out there? It's like you went all Winter Soldier on us," Luke said.

"Who would that make you?" Derek countered. "Captain America?"

"I'd like to be so but I don't think I'm as righteous as Cap. Now stop avoiding the question."

"I don't really know what happened. I barely have any memory of it. There's blurs of it and I remember trying to stop myself but then it ends and I wake up on the ground with Silena and Hallie carrying me. Who was I attacking?"

"Brady. Bradley and I zapped you in the chest at the same time although mine wasn't the one that sent you flying back. My brother kind of lost his temper."

"I'm amazed you didn't do the same."

"I know you better than they do. I know you wouldn't attack anyone like that without a reason."

"Tell Brady I'm so sorry. I really don't know what came over me."

"I will. Promise me if that happens again though, you won't disappear on us for a few hours without telling us where you're going."

"I'll try."

"Thank you." Bryn turned to Silena and Hallie. "Hey, could the three of us go for a walk? I want to talk to you about some things."

"What? We're not invited in this conversation?" Derek asked indignantly.

"Not yet. But you will be at some point. I will see you two later. As hard as it may be, try not to get into any trouble."

"I think the same could be said for you three. Especially you," Luke said, pointing at his girlfriend. She grinned at him. The girls said bye to Luke and Derek as they exited the cabin. Once on the beach, Bryn brought up what she'd been itching to discuss.

"Hallie, have you had any… strange feelings lately? Like something's off?"

The daughter of Hades stopped, turning to look at her friend. "Yeah. How'd you know that?"

"And here I was hoping it was just part of my PTSD." Bryn sighed, running her hand through her hair. "I don't know what it is but something weird is going on at camp, and I think it ties into the dead harpies. At first I thought it was just an after effect of my time in Tartarus which I further believed when Silena brought the topic up with me that she was experiencing what I was. I wasn't honestly expecting you to be getting the same sensations, but now that I know you are too, it makes me believe this is more than just part of my PTSD."

"What are we going to do?"

"I suggest we talk to Chiron. Maybe he has an idea, and certainly if we feel something is wrong at camp, he will too. He's more in tune to what's going on at camp than anyone else here. He will most likely know what to do."

"Then let's talk to him first chance we get tomorrow. I'd say today but dinner's about to be ready and I don't know about two but all the excitement has left me starved and exhausted.

"No, I feel you. Let's head back. We'll tell the boys tomorrow too."

"I'll head to the camp library to do some research on monsters, just in case. There's a few new books I haven't read and I'd like to."

"Sounds like a plan. Now come on, let's go eat!" As if on cue, the conch shell blared out in announcement of the meal. The girls dashed to the dining pavilion. The boys, with the exception of the twins, were already there.

Bryn scarfed down her meal in order to get to the library as quickly as possible. She wanted to get working on figuring out what was going on sooner rather than later. It was always better to be prepared. Before anyone could stop her, she scurried off to the library. Once she found the book she was looking for, Bryn curled up in an armchair. She had no idea how much time had passed until Bradley came into library, looking doggone tired.

"What are you still doing up? It's midnight," Bradley said.

"Is it?" Bryn glanced over at the clock. "What are you doing up? I thought you'd be asleep after watching over Brady all night."

"I fell asleep and came to get a snack. Luke told me you'd disappeared after dinner, said he hadn't seen you since. I got worried about you."

"Why would you get worried about me? I'm at camp, in a library. I'm probably the safest I will ever be."

"You had your arm gouged by Derek and didn't even bat an eye. You're waking in the middle of the night terrified of… something."

"How do you know that?" She asked, suddenly becoming defensive.

"Because Brady and I either wake up every time you do or our dreams shift to us seeing you sitting on the edge of your bed with head in your hands, shaking. Then you get up and go to Luke's. Or if he wakes up from a nightmare before you do, he goes and gets in your bed."

"Why didn't you tell me I was waking you up?"

"Because it's not like you can help it. The first time it happened we thought you'd tell us and when it didn't, we figured you would talk about it on your own time. But it's been two months Bryn, and you haven't said a word about the nightmares or what happened down in Tartarus and you can't keep it in-"

"I'm not. I've been telling Luke, Silena, and Derek."

"And what have they been telling you in return?"

"About the same as I am."

"Even Luke?"

"No," she admitted, closing the book. "Why?"

"Because he told me a little bit of what happened in Tartarus. About how you were paralyzed while you watched your friends be attacked by _arai_. How you were unable to speak, that Silena went blind, Derek went deaf, and that Luke used a power so terrible that he called it unspeakable."

"I'm glad he's finally told someone a little something."

"Yeah, I'm glad he is too. But that's not the point of why I'm telling you this. My point is that what you went through is not something that most people can't even fathom, yet you're bottling it all in like you were doing when we were fighting Hannah."

"Bradley, don't start this again. I'm fine. I'm not bottling it up. I told you, I'm telling things to Luke and Derek and Silena."

"You're obviously not telling them enough or else you wouldn't be-"

"You don't know that!" Bryn finally snapped. "None of us know that if talking about what happened to us down there or what is happening to us now is actually helping us get through it! So I'm sorry if I'm not telling you or Brady anything but there's nothing you can do to help with what I'm going through."

"Well that's something."

"What is?"

"That you actually feel something about what happened. I know we've only known each other a year and we haven't been through the same things that you've been through with Luke, Derek, and Silena-"

"That has nothing to do with it."

"Then what is it?"

"Because I don't know what can help me right now. But if you really want me to tell you something, then I'll tell you this. Silena, Hallie, and I have been getting a… strange feeling. We don't know what it is. It's why I've been so distracted lately. I thought it might've been an aftereffect from Tartarus but after talking to Hallie, I'm thinking differently. That's what I'm reading this book. It's a new one in the library along with some others. I'm reading them to see if any give me an insight into what the girls and I are feeling… you wouldn't happen to be feeling anything weird would you?"

"Can't say I have. But whatever it is, I'll help you figure it out. We're in this together."

Bryn smiled gratefully at her brother. "Thank you. I'm going to go shower and then get to bed. I'll probably just go straight to Luke's. I know I'll end up with him at some point in the night, whether that's my bed or his. I'll see you tomorrow. You get some sleep too, okay?"

"Yeah. Good night big sis." Bryn hugged her brother tightly, still amazed that she'd been given a second chance at getting to know him, at getting to experience having her family with her again. She left the library and went to her cabin, grabbing a pair of pajamas. She took a quick shower, brushed her teeth, dried her hair, and made her way to Luke's cabin. Surprisingly he was still up, doing something on his computer.

"What are you still doing up?" She queried, sitting on the bed next to him. Luke wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close to him. Bryn rested her head on his shoulder.

"Not quite ready to fall asleep. Don't want the nightmares to come any sooner than they have to," he replied. "What about you?"

"I was researching stuff in the library. Silena, Hallie, and I have been getting these strange feelings. I was wondering if any books could give me insight."

"Did they?"

"Not the one I was reading, although there's a few more for me to check out. I'll see you in the morning. I'm going to get some sleep. Kind of exhausted from today."

"I'm going to turn in too. There's only so much sleep procrastination you can do." Luke placed his laptop on the floor and turned off the lamp. The two demigods pulled curled up next to each other. Bryn had closed her eyes for only a few seconds when Luke asked softly, "Hey, you're doing okay right?"

She opened her eyes. "Yeah. Why?"

"When I was talking to Bradley earlier, he brought up some stuff that made me wonder if you were doing as well as you say you are. I know you're badass and kickass, but not feeling the gash in your arm, even that had me worried," he confessed, fiddling with her hand.

"The stuff that we endured in Tartarus changed us. For me, I feel pain differently. When it comes to physical pain, it's like I barely feel it at all anymore. But when it comes to emotional pain, it's like I suddenly feel it a hundred times worse. It's what makes the nightmares so terrifying. Because before Tartarus, when I had nightmares, I could always rationalize them and almost always block out the pain. With these I can't. With these, no matter how much I rationalize them, I can't stop feeling the pain from them. And honestly, I don't know how to deal with all this new emotion. It's not like I was exactly an open book with what I was feeling before then."

Even though it was dark, Bryn could still see the smile that formed on her boyfriend's face. "You're still not much of an open book."

"I've gotten better though. Besides, I wasn't open about how I felt about you for years. At least that's changed."

"Oh yeah, you're very open about how you feel about me," he laughed. "And it's certainly something I'm not complaining about."

"Shut up," she said lightly, poking him in the chest. "Get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning."

Luke kissed her between her brows. "Good night. I love you."

* * *

 **Okay, last chapter before everything goes to shit (pardon my French but there's no other way to put it). Reviews would be lovely :)**


	5. Like Father Like Daughter

**So my day started out great and then I received news that my cat (an adorable heathen who never failed to make me laugh even though half the time he was terrorizing our entire household) so I'm writing this chapter to take my mind off things. Enjoy :)**

 **Chapter Quote:  
** " **The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life."  
** **~Richard Bach**

* * *

Chapter 5: Like Father Like Daughter

Bryn woke up to a massive clap of thunder. It didn't jar her awake but it was enough to prevent her from falling back asleep. She sat up, rubbing her eyes to get the sleepiness out. She glanced around the Poseidon cabin. Luke was still conked out, the other beds were empty as usual. The fountain in the corner trickled quietly, almost impossible to hear over the cacophonous storm.

"You okay?" Luke mumbled.

"Yeah. Storm woke me up. Go back to sleep."

Luke began to listen to her when the door threw itself open. Both demigods jumped into fighting position, both having their swords immediately elongated, ready to fight. They lowered their weapons when they saw who it was. Silena stood sheepishly in the doorway.

"Sorry," she said. "The wind…"

"What kind of maelstrom is this?" Bryn asked.

"Your father. My grandfather. Hades is bound to show up soon. Have you seen the waterspout outside?"

"You're saying that way too casually," Luke said, glaring suspiciously at his sister before peeking out the window. Bryn followed him. Sure enough, a water spout, half a mile wide, made half of air and have of water, was hovering over Long Island Sound.

"What are they bickering about?" Bryn inquired, turning back around. Luke went over and put a shirt on.

"No idea. All the campers are taking shelter in their cabins. I would be as well but I saw Zeus enter the Big House. I'd go but I have a feeling if he and Poseidon are arguing, he probably doesn't want to see a relative of Poseidon. Figured I'd come get you."

"Let's go get the others. They'll probably want to be here for this. You want to round up Hallie and Derek and I'll get my brothers?" She suggested. Silena nodded in agreement. Luke took a hold of Bryn's hand to prevent her from getting soaked by the rain. Even though they only had to walk a few feet to get to Zeus's cabin, they were nearly blown away by the wind. Bryn could barely control it. Once inside, Bryn woke up her brothers. They grumbled something unintelligible but shot up into sitting position when their sister explained what was happening. Throwing shirts on (Bryn was pretty sure Brady's was backwards and Bradley's was inside out), they headed to the Big House; Derek, Hallie, and Silena met them halfway. Even over the howling wind and being twenty feet away, all seven demigods could hear the roaring voices of their divine relatives.

"Are we sure we want to go in there?" Brady asked.

"You know, I think I'm actually going to agree with him," Luke said.

"I feel like entering that room spells certain death for us," Bradley added.

"I've already died. I don't plan on doing it anytime soon," Bryn chimed in. "But I'm going in. I'm mad at them."

"Why?" the twins inquired.

"Because they woke me up." She strode into the room where Poseidon and Zeus were practically at each other's throats. They kept switching between Greek, Latin, and English, and some languages Bryn was pretty sure were extinct.

"What's going on here?" Silena interrupted, stepping up beside Bryn.

The two gods whirled on the demigods. Zeus pointed an accusing finger at Luke. "You stole my lightning bolt!"

"While it's not the first time a boy named Luke has stolen your bloody bolt, this Luke saved your _kólos_ in the last war. He saved all of ours with his friends. Why do you always go for my children first?"

"Because they're like you! They're wild and reckless!" Zeus boomed.

"He's actually not wrong," Luke whispered to his girlfriend. She stifled a laugh. At that moment, Hades literally popped into the room via shadow-travelling.

"What is the meaning of this and which one of you has it?" Hades demanded, glowering at his brothers.

"Why do you assume we took it? We can't touch that shady helmet of yours," Poseidon retorted.

"Did you really just make a pun about my helmet during a time like this?"

"It was unintentional."

"Would someone please tell us what's going on?" Hallie interrupted.

"Someone has stolen my master bolt!" Zeus snarled at her.

"Don't get mad at _my_ daughter for something she didn't do!" Hades snapped.

"How do you know she didn't do it? She can shadow travel just like you and it would be so easy for her to just slip in and out."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, I did _not_ steal your lightning bolt. I literally just finished fighting a war two months ago and I have no intentions of purposefully starting another one," Hallie said.

"Why are you here arguing about it and not up on Olympus?" Derek queried.

"Because evidence points to someone at this camp and I can assure you, we're going to figure out who. Mark my words, it was the Jackson boy here," Zeus declared.

"Hey!" Luke protested. "Look, I have an alibi."

"He does," Bryn said, blushing slightly. Her father knew that she and Luke were dating. He had no idea they were sharing each other's beds and last time he'd caught them, he hadn't exactly taken it well. And that'd just been once that he'd caught them. If he knew they were doing it every night…

"What exactly is your alibi then?" Zeus asked, crossing his arms.

"No, you're going to smite me if I tell you," Luke replied.

"You probably will," Bryn agreed.

"Have you two-" Zeus started.

"NO!" the two responded simultaneously.

"Why does everyone keep thinking that?" Luke asked no one in particular.

"Well I mean that comment about you enjoying him being tied up-" Brady began.

"And the sexual tension between you two when you were arguing and during the battle-" Bradley added.

"Not to mention those nights you two spent together when no one else was around," Silena said.

"Et tu, Silena?" Luke stared in annoyance at his sister. "Do you want Zeus to kill me?"

"Do all of you honestly think that we-" Bryn started.

"Yes," Silena, Derek, the twins, and Hallie answered at the same time.

"We have not slept together!" Luke said vehemently. "I mean we have, but not like- I mean we've shared each other's beds. That's all. I mean yeah we're cuddling and there's some kissing- why I am saying that? You don't need to know that. No. Just sharing each other's beds. No… fondueing occurred between us."

Bryn pinched the bridge of her nose in embarrassment while Derek complimented, "Nice Captain America reference."

"Okay, before we kill Bryn of embarrassment, let's get this straight. All of us have alibis because we're always together, whether that's in our cabins or at breakfast or with other campers. If one of us actually did go steal one of your weapons, someone here would've noticed our absence," Silena said firmly.

"What about when you're sleeping?" Zeus countered.

"Trust me, we don't sleep well anymore," Derek said grimly.

"Brady and I have always been light sleepers," Bradley said.

"Coming from the hell hole I lived in, I wake up to almost every noise I hear," Hallie told the god.

"Why don't you send us on a quest? Surely you have some idea where the bolt and helmet are," Silena said hopefully.

"Don't forget my trident," Poseidon remarked.

"You guys should really lock those things up when you're not using them," Luke suggested. "Maybe then this wouldn't happen so often."

"If you keep talking, I will smite you," Zeus warned.

"Smite my grandson, I'll smite your daughter," Poseidon growled.

"Why me?" Bryn asked indignantly.

"You're closer. I do quite like you, I promise."

"That does not make me feel better."

"Where exactly are the items? Surely you at least have some idea," Hallie said.

"We do actually. One is in a cave in Russia called Kungur Ice Cave. One is in the middle of an island called Ilha da Queimada Grande, and one is in a cave in the Waitomo Cave of New Zealand," Hades explained. "None of us can grab the other's weapons for ourselves. We would have to have a mortal or demigod grab them for us."

"Then we'll split up. Bryn, Bradley, and I can go to Ilha da Quiemada Granda and get whichever one is there. Silena and Luke can grab whichever one is in Russia at the Kungurskaya Cave, and Hallie and Derek can grab the one in Waitomo Cave in New Zealand," Brady decided.

"I don't think it's a good idea for us to split up. I know quests typically go in threes but I think we need to stick together on this one. The person stuck these weapons there for a reason. These places are probably dangerous, and we're stronger in numbers," Bryn noted. "Besides, the last few times some of us went into caves, we've had some bad experiences…"

"Did you say Ilha da Queimada Grande?" Silena questioned.

"Yes," Hades said.

"That's Snake Island. Do any of you realize how deadly that island is?" Silena looked around the room, as if hoping someone would say something. When no one did, she continued. "It's home to the Golden Lancehead Viper. It's the only place in the world where they're found and pretty much anywhere you step, you have to look up, down, and around to make sure you're not stepping on one, standing under one, or standing beside one. They will bite you and unless we have significant amounts of ambrosia and nectar, you will die."

"Thank you for that positive learning experience. I feel great going to that island now," Luke grumbled.

"I say we go to South America first, get to the closest one first and get the most dangerous one out of the way," Derek claimed. "We can head to Russia second, and New Zealand last."

"We can drive to Brazil and get a boat to Snake Island," Bryn said. "We'll need a plane to get to Russia and New Zealand. Father, I know we've talked about this but let me reiterate that I need Luke, Silena, Derek, and Hallie to not get sick while flying so if you could create the least amount of turbulence possible, it'd be greatly appreciated. Derek and Hallie, depending on how our adventure goes on the snake infested island, we can maybe shadow-travel to Russia and New Zealand but I know we'll be exhausted afterwards so that's why I'm asking for the plane."

"Fine, you have my word that I'll create the least amount of turbulence possible," Zeus conceded reluctantly.

"All right. We'll leave once we have our things packed. You should probably alert Chiron about all this. Where is he anyway?"

"He left earlier in the night to go pick up a demigod. We shall alert him when he gets back.

"We'll call you when we find your weapon so you can collect it from us," Brady said.

"No! Only if you find mine first. I don't trust these two not to try and overthrow me if they get their master weapon before me," Zeus replied.

Poseidon looked downright offended. Hades rolled his eyes.

"Father, I don't think they care. Besides, Poseidon likes the water and Hades, I know you complain about the dead whining, but I can assure you, the living are much, much worse," Bryn commented. Bryn's eyes flitted briefly to her father, making a ghost of a smile appeared on Hades' face.

"I don't care! Now go. I want my bolt!" The demigods closed their eyes as Zeus showed his divine form before disappearing into thin air. Upon opening their eyes, they found Poseidon shaking his head and Hades rolling his eyes once more.

"Bryn, Brady, Bradley, I like you, but your father is very dramatic," Poseidon said.

"I don't know the twins that well so I can't speak for them but Bryn has some of her father's dramatic flair," Luke laughed.

"When did I ever-" Bryn began.

"How about the first day I ever met you and you threw the door open without even touching it because Zeke was messing with you and you were going to turn him into fried 'zeke-chini'? Ring a bell?"

"Shut up." Bryn hit him lightly in the stomach. He grinned impishly at her.

"Now I see why the others think what they do," Poseidon said. Bryn and Luke flushed a deep crimson while the other demigods snickered.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear any of that. I shall see you soon. I look forward to having my helmet returned." Hades went out in a much less ostentatious way, simply disappearing into the shadows.

"Like my less temperamental brother, I too shall be leaving. And I'm not going to blind you by doing it so. Good luck kids. I know you'll succeed." Poseidon smiled and turned into a cloud of mist that breezed itself away.

Bradley turned to Luke and Silena. "Can you two do that?"

"I'm working on it," Luke said.

"You're going to fail," Silena told him.

"Boy, you're just Debbie Downer today aren't you?"

"Bryn can't be the only one preventing you from doing stupid stuff."

"Someone has to prevent Bryn from doing stupid stuff too."

"I at least come up with plans when I do stupid stuff. You just run headfirst into trouble," Bryn defended. "Come on everyone, let's go pack."

* * *

 **Hope you liked the chapter :)**


	6. We're Identical

**Enjoy :)**

 **Chapter Quote:**  
 **"Presence is more than just being there."**  
 **~Malcolm Forbes**

* * *

Chapter 6: We're Identical

Bryn was almost done packing her bag when Luke entered. He leaned against the side of her bed and asked, "You almost ready?"

"Yeah. I just have a couple more things to pack," she replied. As she was grabbing a couple pairs of pajamas, Luke picked up one of the books in her bags.

"Ancient Monsters of Ancient Greece… why are you bringing this?" he queried, flipping through some of the pages.

"It's a new book in the library and after our little powwow in Tartarus, I want to know of every monster there is and how to defeat it. I'm not letting any monster ever get the better of me again whether it's an evil Cyclops or an _arai_ or an assbutt primordial being. I'm not letting any of them ever hurt any of you again."

"Bryn," Luke said.

"Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Anything," she retorted, snatching the book out of his hands and putting it back in her bag.

"What did I do?"

"Nothing."

"I've done something because you're mad at me."

"I'm not mad at you."

"Then what's going on?"

"The last few quests we've been on… half the time one of us knocks on Death's door and then runs away; one time one of us didn't run away fast enough and actually died, and I'm just getting a horrible feeling that this quest is anything but normal." Bryn took a breath to calm herself down.

"You don't have to go. No one would think any less of you. Gods Bryn, you've been through hell and back quite literally, you've died for us, you thought your family was dead for most of your life and you just got them back. You deserve a break."

"You know I have to."

"Who says? It's not like the Oracle gave us a prophecy that said you had to."

"I'm already going to worry about all of you on when we're on the quest. I'd worry exponentially more if I didn't go with you and if I go with you, I can at least do something to quell my fears."

"You do what's best for you, and whatever that may be, I'll support you," he told her, wrapping his arms around her from behind.

Bryn kissed him on the cheek. "I'm going. Wherever you go, I do too. Someone has to keep you out of trouble besides Silena."

"I'm not the only one who causes trouble," he remarked. "You technically have a worse record than me."

"I think out my plans though. You just run headfirst into danger."

"I'm still alive though, aren't I?"

"Barely."

"See? A good testament to my methods. You need any help packing?"

"Although I like your hugs, it's hard to pack when you're doing so."

"Right." Luke backed away and sat on her bed. Within five minutes, Bryn was finished and ready to go. The rest of the demigods were waiting for them at the top of Half-Blood Hill.

"I'll take the first round of driving," Brady offered.

"Oh no, you're doing no such thing."

"Why not?" he demanded indignantly.

"Last time you drove in America, you drove on the wrong side of the road. Thank the gods you were only on a bike. No, you and Bradley will not be driving any portion of this trip. Hallie can't drive because she doesn't have her license yet. Silena, Derek, Luke, and I will be driving."

"I'll take first shift," Luke said.

"I'll stay up with you and take second shift. The rest of you can get some sleep. We have a long trip ahead of us," Bryn remarked. The demigods got into their ride which happened to be a Chevy Tahoe that somehow comfortably fit nine people. The twins fell asleep ten minutes in. Silena took out a book to read and put on headphones to drown out any sound. Derek rested his head on her shoulder, scanning the pages but soon fell asleep. Hallie put in her headphones and stared out the window. Bryn took out a book herself, one of the three she brought, to begin to pass the time.

* * *

Bryn jumped awake. She didn't even remember falling asleep. Luke's hand rested itself on her thigh, as if trying to convey to her everything was okay.

"You okay sis?" Bradley inquired from the back.

"Yeah. How long was I out?" she responded, running a hand through her hair.

"About six hours. You fell asleep halfway through the trip. We're in Tennessee now," Luke explained.

"Why didn't you wake me to drive part of the trip?"

"You were sound asleep and I didn't mind driving." In a hushed whisper he added, "It kept me distracted from thinking about things."

Bryn placed her hand on top of his. "You okay?"

"Yeah. We're pulling over for the night. Mom and dad booked us all rooms. Girls in one, boys in another. They were very specific about that."

Derek snorted, sarcastically saying, "Gee, I wonder why."

Luke pulled into the parking lot of a hotel. The demigods hopped out. Silena checked in for them. Bryn kept trying to stay awake but it felt like gravity was pulling down on her eyelids. Thankfully it didn't take long to get their rooms. Both groups had keys to each other's rooms in case of emergencies; hopefully they wouldn't need them for emergencies…

"You going to be okay tonight?" Luke whispered as they trailed behind their friends.

"It's just one night. Will you be okay?"

"Guess we'll see. Text me if you need anything okay?" He kissed her on the head and entered his room. Bryn followed the girls into theirs. She and Silena took one bed, letting Hallie have one all to herself. It didn't take Bryn long to fall asleep, nor did it take a long time for the nightmares to come, which meant it didn't take her long to wake up either. However, she wasn't the only one.

"You okay?" Silena whispered. The Jackson girl was sitting up in bed, doing something on her phone.

"Not really. I'm never okay after these nightmares. What are you doing up?"

"Same as you… I'm blind in all of them. All I can hear are the screams of my friends and family. All I can do is listen. I can't do anything to help whatever is causing you pain."

Bryn rubbed Silena's shoulder. "Even blind, you could get us out of any situation you wanted to."

"I'm terrified of the dark now. Every time I wake up during the night, I think I can't see. So I grab my phone and stare at the screen to convince myself that what I'm seeing is real. Then I'll put it back down and go back to bed. What about you?"

The daughter of Zeus fiddled with her the edge of the blanket. "The dreams change. Most of the time I'm paralyzed and I repeatedly watch you all be killed… sometimes, the paralysis disappears, but even then, you all still end up dead."

"How do we get killed? Monsters?"

"Usually."

"The other times."

"… The other times you're killed by me. The thing is, in the dreams, I have no control over my actions so what I'd feel like if I actually did kill any of you is what I really feel in the dreams, but what I do, I-I…" Bryn trailed off, remembering the last dream she'd had like that, when she'd stabbed Luke in the back more times than she could count, when he'd slumped into her arms repeatedly asking 'why'.

"Hey, Bryn," Silena shook her friend gently. "You don't have to talk about it if it's too hard."

"No, I- I can, it's just that I don't know why I dream of it when I physically could never hurt any of you. Not on purpose at least…"

"We know you couldn't." Bryn smiled gratefully at her friend. At that moment, Bryn's phone buzzed. Hallie stirred, grumbling almost unintelligibly, "Who the Hades is that?"

"It's my brother," Bryn replied with a frown. She answered the phone. "Brady?"

"Would you get over and here and take care of Luke? Last time we tried to wake him up from the nightmare he's having, he punched Bradley who's now sporting a bloody nose."

"Oh gods. I'll be right over." She rolled out of bed, throwing on a jacket.

"What's going on?" Silena queried.

"What happened to Bradley?" Hallie added, now sitting up as well.

"Luke's having a nightmare and when they tried to wake him, he apparently punched Bradley. Besides a bloody nose and possibly a wounded ego, he's fine. I'll see you two later. Try and get some sleep," Bryn told them. She exited her room and knocked on the boys' room which was right next door. She'd forgotten the key to their room or else she would've walked right in (at least she remembered her room key). Derek opened the door, rubbing his eyes.

"Perfect timing. It's getting pretty bad," he said grimly. Bryn slipped into the room, hurriedly making her way to Luke. Although he was laying perfectly still, he was breathing abnormally fast. She sat on the bed next to him, gently placing one of her hands on his arm to prevent that one from trying to punch her. If he tried to hit her with his other arm, she'd be ready.

Taking a deep breath, she demanded quietly with Charmspeak, "Luke, _wake up_."

The effect was immediate. His free arm snapped up, his hand in a fist that was going directly for her head. Bryn deftly caught it.

"Easy," she said. "It's just me."

"Wha- what happened? What are you doing here?" he asked.

"You were having a nightmare. Brady called me after you accidentally punched Bradley when they tried to wake you up."

Luke glanced over at the Winchester twin who was still holding a tissue to his nose. His eyes flitted to his fist that was still being held by Bryn, inches away from her head. He lowered it back down.

"Did I hit you too?" he asked.

"No. Just Bradley."

"Dude, I'm so sorry. I didn't-"

"Don't worry about it. I know you didn't mean to."

Luke swung his legs over the bed, bracing his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands behind his head.

"What happened?" Bryn inquired gently.

"The same as the other night. Except this time I used my power to do it."

"Hey, why don't we go for a walk and get you some fresh air?" Bryn suggested. Luke only nodded. He threw on his UT jacket before opening the door. The two demigods walked down the hallway to the elevator. Neither said a word all the way down. They ended up at the pool, which didn't surprise Bryn. Luke always did like to be near water when he was thinking.

He sat at the edge of the pool, sticking his legs in the water. She did the same.

"So," she began. "What happened?"

"Do you remember in Tartarus when I killed the _arai_?" he asked, frowning at the water.

"Yes."

"And how I later promised you I'd never use that power again?"

"Yes."

Luke began white-knuckling the side of the pool. "I-I broke it. When I was fighting Tartarus, I couldn't outdo him. I couldn't… think of a way to beat him. He thought I wouldn't do it and I never should have. I never should have broken that promise to you because it got you killed and-"

"You breaking your promise to me did not get me killed. I did that myself because Tartarus didn't want me to find a way to escape death from him once more."

"The gods don't take kindly to broken promises though."

"You didn't swear it on the Styx. If you had, the consequences, whatever they were, would have been much more severe."

"When I killed the _arai_ , you gave me such a look of terror, a look that I never want to see again."

"I won't sugarcoat this when I say I was terrified of you, but more because it was at that point in time when a couple of things became extremely clear."

"What were they?"

"I always knew you were powerful. You're related to Poseidon so of course you'd be. But I didn't realize how powerful you truly were and that's what terrified me."

"What's the second thing?"

"It became extremely clear what you're willing to do to protect us, and knowing what that's gotten you into, what it could get you into in the future…"

"This coming from the girl who literally took on a curse for the guy she loved, purposefully separated herself from the people she loved most to protect them, and died fighting for them."

"I guess I'm one to talk," she chuckled quietly.

"Just a little," he said, give her a small nudge. "Are you mad at me for not telling you sooner?"

"No. I wouldn't have been mad because I know in Tartarus, fighting him, we had to do things we didn't want to. Besides, even if I was, it's obvious you've been beating yourself up over it for quite some time." Luke didn't respond until Bryn asked a few moments later, "There something else on your mind?"

"Maybe it's an after-effect of Tartarus. I'm hoping it is. But I think you might be right."

"There's quite a bit that I could be potentially right about. You'll have to be more specific Sharkboy."

"About how I could go down a dark path if I kept using the power."

"Why would you think I'm right about that?"

"All these nightmares about me killing the people I love, and specifically using that power to do so, and then the things I feel in those dreams, it's not normal."

"Luke, listen to me, those dreams are not a sign of you going bad or dark side on us. Tartarus brought out our worst fears. For all of us, in different ways, all goes back to our family and friends. Silena dreams about being blind and not being able to help us because she can't see. Derek dreams about us saying terrible things to him, things I won't even repeat, and he's woken up on more than one occasion to talk to me or Silena about them, just to validate that those dreams were not true."

"Why hasn't he come talked to me?" Luke asked. "I'd help too."

"Because for some reason, you and Derek have taken Tartarus the hardest, and he knows how bad it is for you and doesn't want to bother you with something like that, even though he knows that if Silena and I were for some reason unavailable, he could still go to you."

"Did Derek always have issues with feeling… what's the word? Inferior?"

"I don't know. If he did, he never said anything to me about it. I hope I never made him feel inferior to me in the years I've known him."

"I'm sure you haven't. If anyone did, I feel like it was me. I was kind of an ass to him when I first came."

"Now look at you two. You're practically brothers." Bryn looped her arm around Luke's and rested her head on his shoulder. "You going to be okay?"

"Yeah."

"Do you want to head back to the room? Try and get more sleep?"

"Would you mind if we stayed out here for a little longer? It took me ages to fall asleep because Derek was snoring. Did you know he snores?"

Bryn grinned. "No, I didn't. At least he doesn't drool when he sleeps unlike someone I know."

"I don't drool!" Luke protested.

"Oh yes you do."

"Damn it… is that why you don't like kissing me in the morning?"

"No, I don't like kissing you in the morning because it's morning and I'm not a morning person."

"I'm fully aware of that. You've zapped me more times than I'd like to admit. And always in the butt."

"Whoops?"

"Listen, when we get back to camp, what do you say I book a trip for us? Maybe to the cabin in Montauk or maybe we can head to London, see your parents?"

"I'd love to. What made you think of that?"

"I figured after this quest, we might want to get away from monsters and prophecies and gods for a bit. We've kind of been through hell and I thought maybe a few days break would be good for us."

"You know, you're quite the romantic when you want to be."

Luke looked at her. "I gotta find some way to keep you on your toes."

"You're doing a fabulous job." The two leaned in to kiss but were interrupted by a scream.

"That was Hallie," Bryn stated as the two of them scrambled up to run to their rooms. Upon arriving, they found Derek, Silena, and Brady standing around Bradley who was holding Hallie in his arms. The daughter of Hades looked absolutely petrified.

"What happened?" Bryn demanded.

"We don't know. She came into the room, let out a scream, and fired arrows at nothing," Brady said.

"No! There was a shadow standing over Bradley and it was evil! I could sense it!" Hallie cried.

"A shadow?" Luke said.

"I don't know how else to describe it. It… it was like a 3D shadow, or a blob of-of mist in the shape of a human. It had eyes that were pure gold and that was the only distinct feature and it looked at me and that's when I screamed and when I fired my arrows and I couldn't see a mouth but I know it was smiling and I know it wasn't in a friendly way!" Hallie ranted.

"Okay, take a deep breath. I believe you," Bryn told her gently. "It's gone now. Why don't we all stay in the same room for the rest of the night? If need be, one or two of us can stay up to watch out for anything the rest of the night."

"I'll stay up," Luke offered.

"You've been driving all day. You need some sleep," Silena argued.

"Since Brady and I can't drive, we'll stay up. Besides, I'm kind of freaked out about a shadow standing over me. I hope it wasn't created by some freaky priestess sent to kill me," Bradley said.

"That's probably not a far-fetched idea in our world," Brady remarked.

"Why come after me?!"

"Because you're the one with the mouth."

"I'm also the better looking one."

"WE'RE IDENTICAL!"

"Twins, you'll stay up _without_ arguing. The rest of us actually need to sleep since half of us might be driving tomorrow," Bryn told them firmly. The twins glared at each other but listened to their sister.

"I'll stay up too. I'm too wired after what I saw," Hallie said.

"Will you be okay the rest of the night?" Bryn queried, turning to Luke.

"Yeah. The talk helped. I'll see you in the morning. Don't let any shadows get to you."

"Same goes for you. Love you."

The girls went back to their room where they crawled into their beds. Bryn had just shut her eyes when Silena asked, "Do you think that shadow has anything to do with what we've been feeling lately? I mean those strange feelings?"

"I don't know to be honest. All I remember is being terrified," Hallie answered.

Bryn joined in, saying, "If it is what we've been feeling, then I'll start reading into shadows tomorrow to see how we defeat one. For now, let's get some sleep. We have a long journey ahead of us. We have to go all the way to Houston tomorrow."

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed the chapter- I swear things are going to pick up next chapter! :)**


	7. I Knock on Death's Door

Enjoy :)

Chapter Quote:  
"I intend to live forever or die trying."  
~Groucho Marx

* * *

Chapter 7: I Knock On Death's Door

 **Luke**

After the stopover in Tennessee, the demigods didn't encounter anymore strange shadows looming ominously over any of them. However, for precautionary measures, at least two demigods stayed up each night to make sure that the shadows made no more appearances. It was almost always Brady and Bradley and Hallie. Luke and Bryn drove most of the way with Silena and Derek periodically taking over for them.

They stayed the next night in New Orleans. Bryn and Hallie seemed to know their way around the city a little too well which prompted Luke to ask his girlfriend how she knew it so well to which she replied she'd come here briefly when she was 'dead'. Bryn refused to go into detail about it so Luke figured it wasn't a pleasant memory.

The trip after New Orleans went like this: Brownsfield, Texas; Poza Rica de Hidalgo, Mexico; Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Mexico; Santa Ana, El Salvador; Matagalpa, Nicaragua; San Jose, Costa Rica; Panama City, Panama; Bogota, Columbia; Elorza, Venezuela, and finally Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela.

"I'm never getting in another car again," Bradley declared when the seven demigods stopped at the marina. Bryn and Luke, who had been doing most of the driving, were stretching.

"I think my butt has grown into the seat," Derek remarked. "It physically hurts to stand up because my body is so used to sitting down."

"There is a very distinct imprint of my butt on the seat," Hallie added, glancing distastefully behind her at her seat as she hopped out of the vehicle.

"Well, on the bright side, we won't be driving anymore," Silena said.

"The bad side?" Brady asked.

"We're sailing the rest of the way."

The twins and Hallie groaned. Bryn assured them that Luke and Silena would make sure the turbulence wouldn't be too bad; however the other demigods were still not excited about going on a boat.

"How exactly did we get a boat?" Hallie inquired.

"Our parents have boats all over the world. This is actually a smaller cruise company we have that does tours around the country's ports. Mom called to make sure the boat was scrubbed clean. We have full control of it. It's also run by some demigods so we'll have some automatic friends when we get there," Luke said, shouldering his backpack.

"Can we find a place to eat first? I'm starving," Bryn commented.

"What, tired of protein bars and trail mix?" Brady joked.

"Don't tell me you're tired of bottled water," Bradley joined in.

"No, but I'm tired of you two. Now where's some food?" she replied. The twins clutched their hearts in mock hurt.

"I was googling stuff on the way here. There's supposedly a good restaurant just a few blocks down from here," Silena said. "What do you say we go there?"

"Lead the way," Bryn told her. The seven set off, trying to hurry as fast as they could to get out of the blistering heat. Although the temperature itself was actually pretty decent being in the low eighties, the high humidity vilified it immensely. After ten minutes of walking, they arrived at the restaurant. Upon entering Luke reveled in the crisp, cool air that the AC provided.

"Oh I never want to leave this place," Derek said.

" _Quantos_?" the hostess asked.

" _Sete_ ," Silena responded. They were seated at a table in the back, far away from the rest of the crowds which actually was rather nice, but Luke couldn't help but notice the strange looks that he and the others were receiving. They were very much out of place here which put him on edge.

"What's wrong?" Bryn whispered, leaning next to him so only he could hear.

"Just getting a bad feeling is all. Everyone keeps looking over at us."

"Maybe they just think you're good looking."

"I mean I won't dismiss that because that helps my ego but I don't know, I just have a bad feeling about this."

"You want to leave?"

Luke shook his head. "No, you're hungry."

"I'm pretty sure I can handle eating one more protein bar if it means we'd be safe."

"It's fine, really, although maybe eat quickly, just to make sure?"

"You got it Sharkboy." Bryn proceeded to casually urge the others into eating quickly, making up an excuse that the better we were in a familiar setting (a.k.a. the boat), the better off they'd be. A couple groans erupted from the twins and Hallie about the encouragement, who weren't looking forward to being on water for a few days but otherwise, no one argued about it.

When the food came, Derek asked, "So what are we doing with the truck?"

"Dad said it could fit on the boat somewhere, that the crew would know what to do with it," Silena answered.

"How big is this boat exactly?"

"Around two hundred feet. It's meant to be a small cruise for traveling down the coast of South America but our company has built a new one so we're using this one for other purposes, like going to a snake infested island."

"You're not going to drop that are you, Miss Sunshine?" Luke queried.

"Nope. This is one of the most dangerous snakes in the world and I'm pretty sure there's no specific anti-venom for this snake because there's no record of anyone being bitten by one."

"See? Nothing to worry about."

"That's because it's illegal to go on the island."

"Okay, a little thing to worry about. But we're demigods. We have ambrosia and nectar and some kickass healers on our team. _Four_ , might I add. Besides, I'd takes snakes over spiders any day."

"I do actually agree with you there. Listen, I'm going to go call mom, let her know we're here. I'll call the Michaels and Winchesters as well."

"I'll go with you. We should stick together here," Hallie said.

"Agreed. If you go outside, take someone with you. Speaking of going somewhere, I'm going to go to the bathroom. I'll meet you outside?" Bryn walked off.

"I'm going to go make sure the girls are okay. All three of you were getting way too many stares from the men here," Brady said. "I'll see you all outside."

He left. Luke announced he was going to pay and walked to the cash register. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Derek and Brady getting out of their chairs. They joined him up front, waiting patiently for him to pay.

"Oh crap," Luke said, patting his pockets when he'd finished paying. "I think I left my phone at the table. You two go on ahead. I'm going to go grab it really quick."

He jogged through the crowd back to his table. His phone was lying on the table, just like he thought it'd be. Luke had just picked it up when he felt someone come up behind him. He whirled around only to be greeted by a familiar, but extremely unwelcome presence.

"Not you again," Luke groaned. "Didn't Derek and I turn you into a kebab last time we met?"

The manticore sneered at him. "Nice to see you Mr. Jackson. I must make you aware that I serve a new master now. A stronger, wiser master."

"You've literally sided with Kronos and Tartarus, two of the most powerful beings in the universe next to the gods, and you've still lost. When are you going to get it through your thick head that-" Luke dodged out of the way as the manticore flicked a projectile straight at Luke's neck. Unfortunately, the grandson of Poseidon hadn't been quick enough, feeling the projectile rip into the side of his neck. It hadn't embedded itself, but it'd created a big enough gash that Luke could feel blood pouring down the side of his neck. He snapped his hand up to the wound to try and stop the blood.

"Luke!" Derek shouted.

"Goodbye, grandson of Poseidon," The manticore said. The monster turned around, darting into the kitchen. There were a bunch of screams before an explosion rocked the restaurant. The last thing Luke remembered was flying across the room.

* * *

"Luke? Hey, can you hear me?" a feminine voice asked. It seemed distant, as if the person was miles and miles away. Yet the voice was familiar. "Hey, stop, you're going to kill yourself if you heal him anymore."

"I can't let him die!" another person snapped, sounding hysterical, but not in an amused type of a way. It was as if they were petrified of something.

"Bryn, he's breathing, okay? And look, the gash stopped bleeding. _Stop_."

"Bryn?" Luke croaked out. Although his head screamed in pain at him for doing so, he opened his eyes, if only barely. Bryn and Hallie were staring down at him, the former a color worse tan ashen white. The latter seemed to be pale but she had too much dirt and grime on her face to be sure.

"What happened? You okay Cat Woman?" Luke asked, trying but failing miserably to sit up.

"Stay down," Hallie ordered gently as Bryn nodded shakily. "The manticore made the propane tanks blow up and the only reason you're not vaporized is because there was a wall between you and the explosion from what we've gathered. I don't know when it happened but something slashed the side of your neck and you've lost a lot of blood. You've been out for about thirty minutes."

"No I haven't. I-I saw Bryn come out of the bathroom after the explosion. I saw you on… the other side of the room," Luke protested, suddenly feeling lightheaded.

"The only way you could've seen that is if you had an out-of-body experience which isn't actually all that far-fetched of an idea…"

"What aren't you telling me? Bryn, what happened?"

"You were dying," his girlfriend responded, her voice cracking.

"I was-"

"I ran into the restaurant right after the explosion and saw you first. I could- I could see your soul trying to leave your body," Hallie said, suddenly losing her collectedness. "I saw you dying and- and then Bryn came over to you and started healing you and your soul attached itself back to your body. It took her ages though. If she hadn't gotten to you when she did…"

"I wouldn't be here," Luke finished grimly. His hand searched for Bryn's only to find she was already gripping it tightly in her own.

"I'm going to go find the others. Tell them we found Luke. Hopefully rescue crews can get in her soon," Hallie said, standing up. "Bryn, will you be okay?"

Bryn nodded, softly saying, "Go."

Hallie shadow-traveled out of there. For a few minutes, neither of the demigods said a word. Luke's head hurt too much and his girlfriend seemed to be in too much shock to do much of anything.

"Luke, wake up!" Bryn commanded quietly, shaking him.

"Wha- what happened?"

"You fell back asleep. You need to stay awake no matter how hard it is, okay? Are you up to drinking some nectar?" Bryn whispered. He told her was. She unshouldered her backpack, unzipping the top of it where she pulled out a flask of nectar. With trembling hands he took it from her, taking a few sips. Bryn took it back from him. He felt the effects within seconds. His head felt much clearer, his headache disappeared, and he could fully open his eyes.

"Thank you," he said, attempting to sit up again. This time it went much better although his world spun in circles for a bit, making it hard to focus on one specific thing. "Do you have ambrosia?"

Bryn pulled out some squares for him. As Luke nibbled on them, he asked, "How bad is it?"

"Um, you most likely have a moderate to severe concussion. You have a gash in the side of your neck, first degree burns all over your arms and legs. I have some ibuprofen in my bag but no water for you to take it with. You have some scrapes and bruises that I'll clean with rubbing alcohol and put antiseptic on when we get to the boat. I have some aloe vera right now that Hallie put on your burns while I tried healing you so they shouldn't be causing you too much pain right now."

"I meant with you. Ashen white doesn't even begin to explain how pale you are."

"I nearly watched my boyfriend die. Last time I heard, Bradley and Derek were out cold and not showing any signs of waking up. Brady has shrapnel from the explosion embedded in his arms. Hallie and Silena are mostly unscathed except for dust and dirt covering them."

"What about you? You're in a jacket when it's a hundred degrees outside."

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

"Bryn, that doesn't answer my question. What happened to you in the explosion?"

"I have a second degree burn on the top half of my back. The bathroom was right next to the kitchen and it happened when I was washing my hands. My back was to the explosion. The bathroom stalls prevented it from being worse. Hallie put aloe vera on it already. She sprayed the inside of my jacket with aloe vera too so having it on helps keep the burn cool."

"Let me see how bad it is."

"Here," Bryn said, unlocking her phone and handing it to him. "Hallie took the picture so I could see my back for myself."

Luke felt his stomach contract. Knowing what was coming, he lunged for a trash bin that happened to be laying nearby. His girlfriend placed a hand on his back as he was sick.

"How- how are you able to move? That's got to hurt," he said, breathing heavily.

"I took a lot of ambrosia and nectar. Probably more than I should have."

"You could've killed yourself trying to save me."

"I couldn't. I would pass out before that happened." Luke tried to wrap his head around how Bryn was being so calm right now. He could tell by the look in her eyes that she was far from emotionless right now, but on the contrary, she was acting completely emotionless, almost robotically. It was confusing him.

Before he could think any more about it, light flooded the scene. Men came into the room. One made a beeline for the two demigods.

" _Vocês dois estão bem_?" the man asked. Bryn and Luke stared at him blankly. Seeming to understand they didn't speak Portuguese, he said, "Are you two okay?"

"Yes, sir," Bryn responded. "Just in shock. There are people more severely hurt than us. Please go help them."

The man nodded, unaware that Bryn had used Charmspeak to get him to listen to her. Once he'd left, Luke asked, "Are people dead?"

Bryn looked down at the ground. "Mostly the cooks and a couple servers. I don't know about any customers being dead, just seriously injured."

"Bryn! Luke!" Silena shouted, rushing over to them. Hallie and Brady were right behind them. "Oh my gods, what happened to you?"

"I was too close to the explosion. Bryn and Hallie saved my life," Luke informed his little sister as she smothered him with a hug.

"It was mostly Bryn," Hallie said. "I just helped with the burns."

"Speaking of burns, how's your back?" Brady inquired of his sister.

"It hurts a lot but the ambrosia, nectar, and aloe vera seem to be helping. How are Derek and Bradley?"

"They've woken up but they're really out of it. They can barely put sentences together. We've given them as much ambrosia and nectar as we dare. Can you two stand?"

"I don't know. We haven't tried. Luke's only now just been able to sit up a few minutes ago."

"Silena, help me with Luke. Hallie, help Bryn up," Brady ordered. Luke was unaware of how little strength he had until Silena and Brady were practically having to drag him out of the restaurant. He kept looking back to check on Bryn who was cringing with each step she took.

Luke was placed in a chair next to Derek and Brady who were mindlessly watching everything going on. The grandson of Poseidon waved a hand in front of Derek's face to see if could garner any reaction. The son of Hades jerked back, his head swiveling madly around.

"What is it?" Derek asked.

"Just checking to see if you were okay," Luke replied.

Derek blinked at him. "Dude, terrible you look."

"Thank you, Master Yoda."

"He has a severe concussion. Like Brady said, they can barely put coherent sentences together. Listen Hallie and I are going to go get the car. I'll drive us down to the marina. Brady is going to watch over you four. We'll be right back," Silena announced. She and the daughter of Hades bolted off through the crowd, returning barely three minutes later with their ride. Brady and Hallie helped Derek and Bradley into the back row. Bryn got into the middle row's middle seat with Brady and Hallie flanking her. Silena helped Luke into the passenger seat before getting into the driver's seat herself. Halfway through the ride, Bryn passed out, slumping over onto her brother's shoulder. Bradley decided he no longer wanted to be in the back and tried to climb into the middle row. Hallie had to push him back into his seat about fifteen different times. Derek kept catching himself on fire which annoyed Brady so much that at one point, the son of Zeus zapped Derek with a small lightning bolt. It was enough to jar Derek to his senses for the rest of the trip.

Upon arriving the marina, it was easy to pick out which yacht was to be theirs, and not just because they had three people running up to their car. Silena rolled down the window to be assaulted by a barrage of questions which she answered accordingly. The next few moments were a blur and the next thing Luke knew, he was in a room on the boat be taken care of by Hallie and Brady who were flitting in and out of the room. It took him ten minutes to finally get an answer out of them about what they were doing.

"Silena is getting the boat out of the harbor, the people that greeted us are helping her. Bradley and Derek are sleeping. Bryn is going in and out of consciousness. She was in severe shock earlier so if she seemed out of it to you-"

"I was, actually. She was acting too… robotically."

"The pain in her back has flared up now that she's out of shock so Brady and I tried as much as we could to relieve her of it. Silena is going to have the water heal Bryn's back once she has the boat on course. We figured Bryn would be more comfortable with Silena, despite how close the two of you are."

"Is she okay?" Luke started to get up but Hallie pushed him back down.

"Oh no, you're staying right here. You can see her when I'm done with you. And yes she's fine, just sleeping until Silena goes and gets her."

"But-"

"No buts. Now, go take a cool shower. If you take something too hot, it is going to be extremely painful. I'll have some fresh clothes ready and waiting for you when you're done. You can see Bryn when you're done."

"Thank you, Hallie. For everything."

She smiled at me. "You're welcome."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. I'll be better when I know the rest of you are okay. I haven't known you that long, not like how you and Bryn and Derek and Silena have, but all of you are the closest thing I've ever had to a family."

"You're family to Bryn, which means you're family to me. Not to mention you're part of the reason she's alive again. I can never thank you enough for that."

"She was my first friend. I won't let anything happen to her, no matter what. I'll see you soon."

* * *

 **Bryn**

A whimper escaped her lips as she tried to move her arms. She had to stay awake until Silena came to help heal her back but the urge to fall asleep was so strong and Bryn was so tired of fighting. All she'd ever done almost her entire life was fight.

Fight to train.

Fight to destroy monsters.

Fight to protect camp.

Fight to protect her life.

Most importantly, fight to protect her family and friends.

"Bryn? Are you awake?" Silena's voice whispered.

"Mmhmm," Bryn answered.

"Do you need help getting up?"

"Yes please."

"I've got you." Silena tucked Bryn's arms next to her sides so she could roll her friend over. Grabbing Bryn by her hands, Silena pulled her best friend up, but not without a few groans of pain. With the help of her friend, Bryn made it to the bathroom where she sat on the edge of the tub. She painfully took off her shirt.

"This shouldn't sting. I made sure the water was cool. It should prevent scarring too," Silena said. "Hallie and I discussed having Luke do it but since he's injured himself, we thought it was a bad idea. We also thought you'd be more comfortable doing this in front of a girl, even if Luke is your boyfriend."

Bryn felt the water slithering up her back onto her burns. "I appreciate it. I don't know why I feel comfortable wearing a bikini in front of him but not bra and underwear. They're practically the same thing."

"I think there is something slightly more intimate about the latter."

"How is he doing?"

"He's fine. Anxious to see you. He should be taking a shower at the moment and I can assure you the moment he's done, he's coming straight here. I'm glad the shock's passed for you though. You were scaring me."

"I'm sorry. Silena… I didn't tell you the whole story about what all happened. It wasn't just the burn and the explosion that-"

"Hallie told me about Luke. I meant to thank you earlier but I thought you were too out of it to fully comprehend how grateful I am for what you did. You could've died trying to save him."

"I would've passed out before I died healing him. It's actually impossible for me to die while healing someone."

"That doesn't matter. You were hurt and you still saved my brother. Thank you."

"I'd do it for any of you."

"I know. All right, you're all healed. Now I suggest you get some rest. I'll come get you when dinner's ready."

"Thank you Silena. I feel much, much better," Bryn said, putting her shirt back on. The two of them went back into the bedroom where the daughter of Zeus proceeded to collapse on her bed. Silena had barely been out of the room ten seconds when someone said softly, "Bryn?"

"Luke," she murmured, sitting up. "How are you feeling?"

"For someone who just died and came back, surprisingly not bad, although that's due to you and Hallie. You?" He asked, laying on the bed next to her.

"My back is completely healed thanks to your sister. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't even be able to move right now," she replied, laying back down. She rolled over so she could rest her head on Luke's chest.

"I can't help but think this is a really crappy start to the quest which worries me about how the rest of this is going to turn out. I mean a near-death experience before we've even gotten the first weapon has to be a record of some sort."

"That record is probably held by your parents. Most likely your dad."

"There is a reason my mom nicknamed me Percy Jr."

Bryn chuckled. "Well Percy Jr., I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted, and I want to get some sleep before the waters get too rocky for me."

"Sleep it is," Luke agreed. Bryn closed her eyes, allowing herself to relax as she reminded herself that she was safe on the boat with her family. As long as she was with them, she'd be okay. And that would never change.

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed- next chapter is where the real fun begins (if you haven't had fun already). Reviews would be lovely :)**


	8. It's A Pirate's Life for Me

**Enjoy :)**

 **Chapter Quote:**  
 **"On your left."**  
 **~Steve Rogers, _Captain America: The Winter Soldier_**

* * *

Chapter 8: It's A Pirate's Life for Me

 **Derek**

The group had been on the boat for two days. Hallie, Brady, and Bradley barely came out of their rooms their seasickness was so bad. Bryn stuck next to Luke constantly but Derek knew that was because Luke had this effect on her that made her seasickness disappear. Derek knew this because Silena had the same effect on him.

He was sitting up on the bridge with his girlfriend, keeping an eye on the horizon as their destination was supposed to come into view by nightfall. Bryn was sitting with Luke on the bow of the ship. The latter had his arms wrapped around his girlfriend. Derek could see their mouths moving which made him wonder what they were talking about.

"You okay?" Silena asked, rubbing his shoulder.

"Yeah, just thinking," he replied. "You?"

"Anxious to get this over with. Which one do you think we'll find: the trident, the lightning bolt, or the helm?"

"I'd say either the trident or the helm. The bolt is the most powerful so it'll most likely be the hardest to find. How are you doing? With the nightmares?"

"Besides the fact that I keep waking up in a deathly fear that I'm going to be blind for the rest of my life, I'm okay. I could handle being blind, that's not actually what I'm afraid of. It's that I wouldn't be able to defend you or the others. What about you?"

Derek shrugged. "I don't know. I just don't feel right, like something's wrong with me and that's what Tartarus was always using against me, so I don't know if it's just him in my head or if something's genuinely wrong. Or both."

"Can you explain what you're feeling? I mean why you don't feel right?"

"It's just… something's off. That's all I can say. It's driving me nuts that I can't place it which makes me believe it's just in my head."

"We'll figure it out. We always do," Silena promised, resting her head on his shoulder.

"How much longer until we get there?" Hallie asked, suddenly appearing next to her brother. He and Silena jumped in surprise.

"Uh, we should be there by nightfall so we're going to dock there and get on land in the morning. What are you doing up?"

"My seasickness has abated somewhat and I took the opportunity to come here to ask my question. Now with it rapidly coming back, I'm heading back down to my room. I'll see y'all later." Hallie stumbled out of the room. Despite wanting to go after his sister, he decided against it as he knew the moment he left his girlfriend's side, his own seasickness would make its unwelcome appearance.

For the next two hours, the boat sped towards what seemed to be a never-ending horizon. It was only just as the sun was setting that the silhouette of the island could be seen. Excitement rose inside Derek's chest. By tomorrow, they'd be a third of the way done with their quest, which meant he would be closer to being able to relax and take care of not just himself, but his friends as well. Of the four of them that had fallen into Tartarus, Luke had for some reason been the worst off. Bryn was good for him, but even she seemed to have trouble getting through to him which was worrisome to Derek. He and Luke hadn't always seen eye to eye on things but they'd been through a lot together, and Derek genuinely saw Luke as a brother now. He believed the Jackson boy felt the same.

"I'm going to anchor here and turn off the lights so no one sees our ship," Silena said, interrupting her boyfriend's chain of thought. "Then we should head to bed."

"I'm going to stay up a little while longer. I don't feel safe without having a look out for things with everything going on right now."

"I think we'll be fine, but I won't argue. I'll be in bed if you need me. I love you." Silena kissed him on the head, then went to her room. A little while later Bryn and Luke got up, walking hand in hand back inside, presumably to go to bed. They all had a long day tomorrow.

For three hours, Derek forced himself to keep his eyes open, but realized he was failing. Swallowing away his fears about being attacked while sleeping, he walked to his room that he shared with Silena. Halfway there he met Luke and the twins who seemed to be wide awake.

"What's up?" Derek inquired.

"I have a bad feeling. Something's coming. I can feel it," Luke answered. "Did you see anything while you were up there?"

Derek shook his head. Luke sidled past him, running up the stairs to the bridge of the ship. The other demigods trailed right behind. Luke stood at the radar, watching it as it scanned for any signs of other ships.

"There!" the Jackson boy exclaimed, pointing at a blip on the radar. "What is that?"

"I don't know. The police shouldn't be out here so it can't be them," Brady remarked.

"The area's known to have pirates. We should wake the girls. If they are pirates and they see our ship, they'll send a small group to board and take over. If we go take care of the big ship, the girls can defend this one," Derek suggested.

"What are we doing?" Bryn mumbled tiredly from the doorway. Silena and Hallie stood behind her, seeming more awake than their friend.

"There's a ship on the radar. We think it might be pirates. We're trying to figure out if they've spotted us. I'm going to go swim out there and see what's going on. Derek, you want to join?" Luke queried. Derek nodded.

"Bradley and I will fly over to the ship, and we'll alert Bryn if we see a smaller one coming towards our boat," Brady said.

"Are you sure it's safe for us to split up?" Hallie questioned seriously.

"We need a kid of Poseidon on each boat. We're in our element here so we'll have the upper hand in the fight. The boys and I will be fine. You three be careful," Luke admonished.

"We're not the ones going out in the middle of the night to check a ship to see if it's pirates," Bryn argued.

Luke placed his hands on his girlfriend's shoulders, kissing her on her forehead. "We'll be fine. I'll see you soon Cat Woman."

"You better come back Shark Boy."

* * *

 **Luke**

Thank the gods Derek was accompanying Luke to the ship in the dark water because despite being in his territory, the grandson of Poseidon still felt skittish at the thought of being alone in the vast ocean in the dead of night going to attack a pirate ship. Upon reaching the ship, he had a wave raise them quietly up onto the deck. Checking to make sure the coast was clear, the two demigods leapt over the railing and hid behind a box of crates.

"You see anything?" Derek whispered.

"Four men. Big guns," Luke responded. "They're watching something."

"Probably the boat to go to our ship. Hallie just informed me the boat's almost reached them."

"The twins must've seen one heading to our boat when they were flying over here and warned Bryn who must've warned the girls. I hope they're okay…"

"Honestly, they'll probably handle this better than we will. So what's our plan of action?"

"It'd be nice to know where the twins were but we'll have to trust that they know what they're doing. I say we attack quietly and knock them out. If only this place had a jail cell. Do we have any rope?"

"No, but I see some of the men have some on their belts. We could use that to tie them up."

"We'll need weapons. I don't exactly want to kill them."

"We're demigods. We _are_ weapons."

"I say our best attack is a sneak attack."

" _Mãos ao ar_!" a man shouted. Luke and Derek whirled around, throwing their hands up in the air to show that they surrendered to the six men with guns pointed at them.

"What did he just say?" Derek asked quietly.

"I have no idea but just go along with it," Luke said.

"Can you not make a wave or something?" The men motioned for them to move to the middle of the ship. The two boys with their hands by their heads, did as they were told, not wanting to get shot.

"I want more of them around me. Besides, we have no idea where the twins are and I don't want to hurt them."

"You don't have to worry about that," a twin grunted next to him. It was Brady.

"These jerks damn near shot us out of the sky," Bradley added. The Jackson boy prayed silently that the girls were okay as he and the others had their hands and feet bound with rope.

Luke was about to say something to his friends when men started shouting and hollering. Half the men disappeared while the ones that remained shifted uneasily on their feet, guns pointed at the boys' heads.

For a few tense minutes, nothing was seen or heard. It was only when there was a high-pitched yell, accompanied by a pirate flying back into a stack of crates, that Luke decided to take action. Concentrating amongst the ruckus, he started making the sea move back and forth. The pirates surrounding them began to lose their footing. While they stumbled about, Derek decided to get up and headbutt the closest guy to him. The twins followed suit. Luke chose to be a human bowling ball, rolling himself towards a group of pirates distracted by the chaos going on around them. He knocked into them, causing them to fall over. Unfortunately, they fell onto him.

"Bad idea. Bad idea…" he groaned as elbows and knees dug into his back. At least it wasn't lower where it'd _really_ hurt. The pirates stood up and were about to attack him when someone shouted "On your left!" followed by the unmistakable sound of metal hitting someone in the head.

" _Cadela_!" a pirate shouted. A metal pole flashed over his head, hitting another enemy in the back of the knee. When he went down, a foot kicked him in the head, knocking him out. Another got slammed in the back, another got hit in a very bad place for a man that made Luke actually felt semi-bad for him because he knew exactly who was wielding that pole and just how much strength they had. In less than a minute, six pirates were down. Luke sat up, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. He looked up at his savior, also known as his girlfriend. Bryn grinned down at him.

"Honestly Sharkboy, how many times do I have to save your ass?" she queried, kneeling down to untie his hands and feet.

He laughed. "I will never get tired of it."

"You're an idiot."

"Tell me something I don't know."

"If I did that, we'd be here a very long time."

"Shut up." He pushed her playfully.

"Come on, we still have some pirates to take care of," she said, holding out her hand. Luke took it, standing up. The two of them ran off to find their friends or to find more pirates, whichever came first. That happened to be the latter. It was only two of them that were firing their guns at the twins who were soaring in the air striking pirates with lightning bolts. They weren't facing the two demigods though so Bryn put the pole she was carrying in between them at head level and snapped it into horizontal position so that it hit one guy in the face and the other in the back of the head. While they were disoriented, Luke punched their lights out. He used the rope that had bound his hands and legs to tie their hands together. Bryn and Luke took the guns away from them and tossed them over the side of the boat. They went to help out the rest of their friends but saw they didn't need to. The others had knocked the rest of the pirates out, or had tied them up. The demigods found some extra rope and chains around the ship, tying up their would-be captors that were currently unrestrained.

"What happened to the pirates that were sailing out to our boat?" Derek inquired, brushing some guck off his hands.

"Silena created a ball of water that Bryn electrified and then Silena dropped the water ball onto the pirates. It knocked them out. It was _awesome_!" Hallie exclaimed. "Then we tied them up. They're floating on their little boat somewhere."

"Let's get them up here, put them with their comrades," Luke said. "We'll send a distress signal so the Coast Guard comes and gets them."

"You and Bryn go do that. There were quite a few pirates on that boat so Hallie and I will need as much manpower as we can get getting them on the ship," Silena remarked. Luke nodded. He and Bryn went to the bridge where Luke fiddled around with the controls while Bryn stood guard with her handy-dandy pole. He'd just hit the distress signal button when he heard Bryn swear softly in Greek.

"What's wrong?" he asked, turning to look at her.

"I guess a bullet grazed me during the fight," Bryn replied, staring down at the gash in her hip.

"That's more than just a graze. If that bullet went any deeper into your skin, it would've embedded itself in you. Let's get you to your brothers so they can heal that up."

Luke escorted Bryn downstairs. She seemed unfazed by her wound which worried him. He remembered her telling him that she felt pain differently after Tartarus, but still, her lack of feeling pain worried him.

The twins were immediately by their sister's side, asking what happened. While Luke explained, the twins began using healing spells to stop the bleeding and close the gash. It seemed to help Bryn tremendously who had been more affected by it than she realized. Once her brothers deemed she was okay, Luke and Bryn went to their room.

"Hey, if you're not up to going on the quest tomorrow, I think the six of us can handle getting whichever Olympian power thing is up there on the island," Luke said.

Predictably, Bryn shook her head. "No, I'll be fine. Once I get some sleep, finish this ambrosia, and drink some nectar, I'll be good as new. Besides, it wasn't that bad."

"I know I'm one to talk, but you're wearing yourself thin. You're worse than when I first met you. I know it's an after-effect of Tartarus but please be careful with all that you're taking on. I can't watch you die a third time…" Luke sighed, sitting on the bed with his back to his girlfriend. He hated talking about the prospect of Bryn dying because he knew that it was a real and ever present threat. He hated thinking about it because it made him think of a time in his life that was best left buried deep down where no one could access it, including himself. He hated bringing up Bryn dying because he didn't want to seem like the over-clingy boyfriend. He hated showing weakness in front of her right now when she needed she needed someone else to be strong for once. After all, she'd just died and come back only a couple months ago. That's not something a person gets over easily or just brings up casually in a conversation. That was a life-changing event for her, and he knew it got to her more than she cared to admit. More than once she'd talked in her sleep about it. Bryn never mentioned it when she was awake, but she didn't have to for him to know.

Bryn crawled onto the bed, wrapping her arms around his waist from behind and resting her chin on his shoulder.

"You're right. I'm wearing myself thin. But it's not because I'm not sleeping. Believe it or not, I'm actually sleeping more and more each night. I'm wearing myself thin worrying about you guys. You, Silena, Derek, the twins, Hallie, my parents, Derek's parents, your parents… all of you are my family and I'm not losing any of you. Not again."

"You're not planning on dying again are you?"

She let out soft harrumph. "No, I have no plans on dying any time soon."

"… Did it hurt?"

Bryn scooted next to him, staring at him with furrowed brows. "Did what hurt?"

"Did it hurt when you died?"

"Yes. And no. The wound hurt, yes. And it hurt until I died. But the actual dying part was relatively peaceful. Why? You didn't make a deal with the devil did you?"

At that, Luke smiled. "No. No deals with the devil for me. I just wanted to know if you'd been in pain when you died. I wish you hadn't been."

"Don't dwell on it. I'm here now. That's what matters. Besides, I've let the Fates have their wish. Now it's time for them to grant me mine."

"What is your wish?" He inquired.

"Oh I already have it," she answered, giving him a chaste kiss.

"You do?"

"You know, for being a grandson of Athena, you don't always show her brilliance, do you Sharkboy?"

"What are you talking about?" he replied, becoming more confused.

"You know what, I'm going to let you figure this out. What do you say we get to sleep? It's late, I'm tired, you're tired and stress which is a terrible combination, and we have a big day ahead of us."

Luke agreed, getting under the covers. Bryn lay next to him with her head on his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat. He turned off the lamp and closed his eyes. All was silent save for the gentle lapping of the waves against the boat. Bryn, however, decided to break the silence entirely by asking, "Are you ever going to tell me about the dream you asked Aphrodite about?"

Luke let out a quick burst of laughter. "You're never going to give up on that are you?"

"Of course I'm not going to drop it. You don't understand how aggravating it is not knowing what you two are talking about? Is it about us? Is it about Silena and Derek? Is it about the future?"

Luke kissed her on the top of the head. "I promise you'll find out when the time is right."

"When will that be?"

"When the dream comes true."

* * *

 **Hope you liked some of the hints in the end about what's going to happen in the future. Let's see how many you can pick up :) Review please!**


	9. You Had to Ask

**Enjoy :)**

 **Chapter Quote:  
Like Indiana Jones, I don't like snakes - though that might lead some to ask why I'm in politics."  
~Theresa May**

* * *

Chapter 9: You Had to Ask

Bryn woke Luke up around ten in the morning, telling him that Silena and Derek had made breakfast for the rest of them. He groaned, rolling over to stare at the ceiling. Every part of him told him to stay in bed, to just relax and not get up. But there were things to be done, places to go, and gods to placate, so once again, the universe was against him.

"You sleep okay?" Bryn asked.

"Yeah, once I fell asleep. Which was about four hours ago."

"Nightmares?"

"No, just thinking about the quest. It's fine, don't worry."

"I'll go make you some coffee with a lot of caffeine and sugar. I'll see you soon."

"Thank you," he said, giving her a grateful smile. She kissed on the head and left the room. He sat up in bed, trying to rub the tiredness out of his eyes, but that wasn't working so well so he forced himself to actually stand and get dressed. Once that was done, he made his way up to the main deck where he found everyone eating omelets and bacon. He took a seat between Bryn and Hallie where he started chowing down on his meal, not wanting to hold everyone up from the mission since most of them were either done or almost done.

"So how are we going to find the weapon, whichever one is up there?" Brady asked.

"I say we start with the most obvious and most easily accessible place, the lighthouse," Silena said. "Bryn, Brady, and Bradley can fly us up to the place and then we can avoid any pleasantries with snakes."

"With how hot and humid it is out there, we won't be able to fly for long without tiring ourselves out a lot, so we'll have to be quick," Bryn stated.

"Yeah, we can't be tiring you guys out. We need you."

"Things tend to attack modes of transportation when they want to stop you and if you don't want to lose anything, take everything with you before you leave," Derek warned.

"All right, once you're done, meet at the bow of the ship. Once we're all there, the twins and I will take us up there," Bryn said. "I'm going to go get my stuff. I'll see you all soon."

Luke shoved the last piece of omelet in his mouth before going to do the same. When he arrived, Bryn was packing things into her backpack.

"I hope this is going to be an easy trip," Luke remarked casually, unceremoniously stuffing things into his backpack.

"Is anything ever easy for us?" Bryn chuckled.

"Come to mention it, no, but we can always hope."

"Since when did you become such an optimist?" she inquired, giving him a confused smile.

"Since I achieved the impossible: dating you." He kissed her on the head as a cheeky grin spread across his face. "You ready?"

Bryn nodded. The two of them walked up to the bow of the ship where the twins were already waiting. They were way too excited about disembarking which Luke couldn't really blame them about after seeing what seasickness had done to Bryn a few years ago (although the twins seemed to handle it much better than their sister had…).

A few moments later, Silena, Derek, and Hallie showed up. That was the Winchesters' cue to grab onto everyone. It was always a weird sensation to Luke when he was flying with Bryn or the twins because he felt the wind supporting him but it was extremely disconcerting to have nothing under your feet. Even when you were in the ocean, if you stopped swimming upwards, you'd either float to the top of the water, stay where you are, or slowly sink to the bottom depending on the density of the water you were in. In the air, if the Winchesters stopped flying everyone up and stopped controlling the wind, they would literally just plummet with no resistance until they hit the ground. It was very disturbing to Luke.

In about two minutes, the Winchesters had travelled the entire group from the boat to the entrance to the lighthouse where they landed rather roughly. The twins stumbled but Silena and Hallie stopped them from falling over. Bryn placed her hand on Luke's shoulder to steady herself as she was swaying rather severely in place. Luke wrapped his arm around her waist to help.

"Take a moment to get your wits about you again," Derek said gently. "Hallie and I can scout ahead."

"Are you sure it's a good idea to split up?" Bryn asked, looking up at him.

"Yeah, what's the worst that could happen?"

"Do not ever say that," Silena replied, shaking her head. "With us, it can always get worse."

"I'm agreeing with her on this point. Look, these three are out of commission for a few minutes. I'll make sure no snakes come near them while you and Hallie and Silena go scout ahead. We're better in numbers," Luke suggested.

"You sure you can keep an eye on all three of them?"

"Positive. We have some nectar and ambrosia. They can have a bit of that and I'm sure they'll be fine soon. When they are, we'll come find you."

"Deal. See you soon."

* * *

 **Hallie**

Upon entering the lighthouse, one thing was made crystal clear: someone had recently been inside. And had decided to redecorate. Hallie couldn't blame them for it but why someone would want to live on a snake-infested island was questionable. Of course, she realized that it probably wasn't a _someone_ but a _something_.

"This is freaky," Silena muttered, checking under things with her sword.

"Be quiet when you talk. Someone's obviously lived here and is probably still living here. We don't want to alert them to our presence," Hallie warned.

"See any snakes?" Derek asked.

"None so far but I see a lot of shed snake skins. Whoever lives here apparently has no problems with it," Silena answered.

"Let's clear this room and if we don't find anything, let's head up the Stairs of Death."

"Do you have to call them that?"

"What else are you going to call the stairs that may possibly lead to the first divine weapon and some terrible thing to protect it?"

"Oh I don't know, how about just _stairs_?"

"Okay you two, explore now, bicker later," Hallie intervened. For the next five minutes, the trio investigated every inch of the ground floor. Finally, deeming it safe, they started going up the stairs.

"Do you hear that?" Silena whispered, stopping about halfway up.

"Someone's downstairs, and it's not Bryn or Luke. They wouldn't be that loud," Derek observed.

"Deariesssss!" A voice hissed sweetly from below. "Pleassssse come join your friendsssss."

"Damn it," Hallie groaned.

"I guess it's a Stairway to Hell and not a highway," Derek said. Silena and Hallie both hit him in the arm. This was no time to be joking around. Reluctantly, they went back downstairs where they found Bryn cradling an unconscious Luke in her arms, with two Golden Lancehead Vipers sitting around them, ready to strike if she tried anything.

Hallie began to ask where the twins were but a slight shake of the head from Bryn shut her up. They must've had a plan. At least she hoped they did…

"Come, join ussssssss," the voice encouraged. It was then that Hallie noticed the snake woman with a snake for a torso. She had two heads, but on opposite ends of her snake body. It was one of the strangest things the daughter of Hades had ever seen, and she'd seen quite a bit.

"Who in gods' name are you?" Derek blurted out.

"Her name is Amphisbaena. I just read about her in one of my books. Don't let her spit get on you. It's poisonous," Bryn informed.

"Great… so what do you want from us?" Derek queried of the weird snake woman.

"Nothing, nothing, sssit with your friendssssss. Let me make you sssssomething to eat," Amphisbaena insisted. Hallie wanted to ask how she was going to make something when she had no hands but Hallie didn't want to offend a monster that was acting friendly towards them. Then two arms sprouted about a foot below each of the heads which ended up answering her question.

"It'ssss ssssso rare that I have guessstsss," the woman noted.

"Can I ask what happened to my brother?" Silena inquired, walking over to Bryn.

"He tried to attack me ssssso I knocked him out. I'm rather friendly if you haven't noticcccced. He ssssshould wake up in a few minutes. And don't mind my friendsssss, they're jussssst following me around."

Hallie stared suspiciously at the snakes who looked angrily up at her. She had a feeling they were mad they couldn't attack the demigods because they probably looked tasty.

"You know, if you didn't live on Ilha da Queimada Grande, you might have more visitors," Silena told Amphisbaena.

"Yessss, I've thought about moving but I love my sssnakesssss here sssssssso much. I can't leave them. Well, I did have a vissssitor a couple weeksss ago, but I didn't get to ssssee their faccce. They wore a massk."

"What did they want?"

"To drop off sssssome weapon that they wanted me to protect."

"What's the weapon, if you don't mind me asking?" Bryn prodded kindly. Hallie could feel the Charmspeak. It was subtle but enough to work on someone like Amphisbaena who seemed eager to please her visitors.

"Ssssome helmet type thing. I've placcced it upssssstairsss with intruder alarmssss ssso if anyone ssstepsss foot in there, I'll know. I don't want to kill anyone. So many ccccenturiesssss of being alone, I want friendssss."

Hallie glanced over at Bryn who was staring carefully at the snake woman, but it was obvious to Hallie that her friend was sending a message to her brothers about where the weapon was. For the next few minutes, the snake woman continued making… whatever she was making.

"What happened?" Luke moaned.

"Hey," Bryn said softly. "Take it easy. Everything's okay."

"There was a two-headed snake woman. Where did-"

"She's here. She's friendly."

"Your friend wake up? Good. I musssst've hit him harder than I thought," Amphisbaena said.

"Not appreciated," Luke muttered under his breath. He sat up, rubbing his head ruefully.

"All right, it'ssss almossst ready my- oh no," Amphisbaena said, looking up.

"What?" Hallie inquired.

"It appearssss ssssomeone hasss crossssed the thressshold upsssstairsss. I'll be back." The snake woman slithered up the stairs,. The head in the back waved at us and held up her finger as if to say they'd just be a minute.

"Is anyone else wigged out by this?" Luke inquired.

"Yes, but calm is the best way to go about this. I know who's up there," Bryn said.

"I was wondering where those two were. What happened?"

"When you went to go get rid of the viper, we saw her slither out after you. They flew up to the top while I went to go and help you. Unfortunately she got to you sooner than I thought she would. Sorry…"

"You're probably the reason I'm still alive. Thank you for that."

"What should we do now?"

"Hope the twins' plan works."

* * *

 **Bradley**

The twins flew through the windows on the top floor but made sure they didn't touch the ground. That snake woman had sensed all of them outside, but she hadn't been able to sense how many which had worked in their favor. If she could sense when someone was on her territory, they'd be in trouble.

"Found the helm," Brady said softly.

"How about we use those electrical arrows? Form a trap and lure her up here. Then that way she can't escape for a while, we escape with the helm. Easy," Bradley replied.

"Nothing is ever easy. Don't ever say anything is ever easy. When has anything ever been easy for us?"

"Point made. Ready?"

"Yeah. Fire." The twins pulled out their bows and shot two arrows each into the ground, forming a square. Then they waited for the inevitable entrance of Amphisbaena. Sure enough, it barely took two minutes for her to appear. And for once, luck was on their side. Amphisbaena slithered right into their trap.

"Hey there," Brady greeted.

"What'sssss thissss?" she asked.

"We couldn't have you cramping our space… or in your case, constricting," Brady said.

"Seriously?" Brady retorted.

"What?"

"You're really making jokes right now?"

"She's trapped. It's not like she can do anything."

"Well she can spit poison."

"Oh now you tell me."

"Bryn just warned me."

"Why didn't she warn me?"

"Because you're too busy making snake puns."

"What do you want?" Amphisbaena interrupted.

"The helm," Brady replied. "So if you don't mind, we're just going to ahead and take that."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," she warned.

"Why not? You can't slither out of this situation," Bradley said. His brother let out a groan. "See those arrows? Try and leave that square, you're going to be more than a little rattled."

"If you take that, I will be killed," Amphisbaena said. "I cannot risssk that and leave my friendssss here."

"You mean all the snakes here?" Brady answered.

"Yessss. They accccept me for who I am. Do you know what that feelsss like?"

"Being a demigod, yes. Because pretty much only demigods accept me for who I am. Humans would lose their minds if they knew what we could do."

"You don't have two headsssss," Amphisbaena countered.

"Look, our job is to protect people and… friendly monsters. We get this to the gods, we stop whoever is doing this, and we save you and everyone else. You just have to trust us. We're here as friends."

"I can't let you do thisssss." Amphisbaena attempted to leave the arrows but immediately she was shocked until she backed into the perimeter again. "What have you done?!"

"Protecting ourselves. We really are sorry about this but we can't have you killing us or our sister and friends," Brady informed.

"If I can't kill them, then my friendssss will."

"How exactly are you going to do that while you're trapped up here?" Bradley questioned, more than slightly amused. The snake woman by letting out an ear-piercing scream. Seconds later, Bryn's voice shouted in his and Brady's head: _The snakes are trying to attack us! We're coming up!_

Brady looked at his brother, giving him an I'm-one-hundred-percent-done-with-you look before saying, "You had to ask."

"Shut up and grab the helm," Bradley snapped. "I'll distract her."

* * *

 **Bryn**

The moment she heard the snake woman's scream, Bryn knew they were in danger. She ordered her friends to run, but not before zapping the two Lancehead Vipers with lightning to get them away from the demigods. It stunned the snakes briefly but as they all scrambled towards the stairs, the snakes regained their wits and began following them, looking even angrier than they had earlier. Not only that, but the door somehow opened, allowing dozens of the deadly yellow snakes to pour in. Bryn was in the lead with Luke behind her. Hallie had taken the middle. Derek and Silena took up the rear. The demigods were frantically trying to outrun the yellow menaces but the snakes were faster than any of them realized.

Silena let out a sudden yelp, causing all of them to stop. Derek sliced the head off a snake which had latched onto his girlfriend's ankle. The Jackson daughter was obviously trying not to panic but her fear was getting the better of her.

"Derek, do you think you can get Silena back to camp?" Bryn asked hurriedly.

"I don't know if I have that much power."

"Listen to me," Hallie said, grabbing him by the shoulders while Bryn struck lightning bolts in the ranks of snakes. "Focus on what's driving you to get there. Let that emotion fuel your power because trust me Derek, you have it in you. I know you do. Now go save your girlfriend. We'll see you soon."

Derek kissed his sister on the cheek before scooping Silena in his arms who was already beginning to show signs of envenomation. Within a few seconds, Derek flashed out of existence with his girlfriend. Bryn grabbed onto Luke and Hallie's hands, flying them up to the top of the lighthouse. Entering the room, they found Amphisbaena spitting poison at the twins who were doing pretty well at dodging it.

"Nice of you to join us!" Brady called out.

"We encountered a serious problem. I'll get the helm!" Bryn answered. She shot into the air, snatching the helmet from its pedestal.

"Nooooooo," Amphisbaena wailed. "You will die!"

"Don't you dare touch her!" Luke snarled, pulling out his sword.

"They'll kill me if I let you take it!" she protested.

"You kill my girlfriend, you'll wish that whoever it is you're working for got ahold of you instead of me!" he spat back.

"Hallie, get the twins out of here. Get them as close as you can to our next destination. Luke and I will go to the boat and meet you wherever you end up," Bryn ordered. The twins landed next to the daughter of Hades who grabbed onto their hands and shadow-travelled them out of there. Bryn prayed Hallie had enough strength to at least get them to Europe…

"Come on!" Bryn exclaimed, grabbing her boyfriend's hand. She flew them out the window, using all her strength to get them to the boat. Unfortunately, they had another problem. Bryn landed on the rocks, pulling Luke behind one.

"What is it?" He asked. "We have a psychotic snake lady and her little yellow minions after us."

"Brazilian Military found our boat. Luke, how much does that boat mean to your parents?" Bryn inquired.

"Uh, it's going to be replaced soon and that one's going to be refurbished. Why?"

"Unless your parents want trouble with the Brazilian government, I'm going to need to blow it up."

"My dad's used to exploding ships. Besides, last time we used one of his boats, it ended up in the bottom of the Atlantic. Honestly, I don't think he's expecting it to come back if he let us use it. Here, use Greek fire. It'll incinerate it." Luke pulled out a jar of Greek fire, handing it to Bryn.

"Before I use it, where's the engine on that thing?" she asked, notching an arrow.

"In the bottom near the back. Why?"

"Because if I make a hole for the Greek fire arrow to go through, the explosion will be that much more effective." She let loose an arrow, hitting where Luke had told her to. A small explosion rocked the boat, not enough to blow it up but enough to make a hole in it. Bryn hurriedly lit a regular arrow with Greek fire and shot it at the hole in the boat before the water blocked it for her. A couple seconds passed before an explosion, twenty times bigger than the last one, went off on the boat. Tiny fragments from the boat went everywhere.

"So how are we going to get to our next destination now?" Luke questioned. Bryn glanced down at the Helm of Darkness in her hand. As if sensing her train of thought, he added, "Aren't we supposed to give that to Hades now?"

"My dad said he didn't want Poseidon or Hades getting their weapons back before he got his so why not use it while we have it?" she responded.

"Do you know how to use it?"

She shrugged. "Let's find out."

* * *

 **Reviews would be lovely :)**


	10. We Just Dropped In

**Enjoy :)**

 **Chapter Quote:  
** " **Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own."  
** **~Robert A. Heinlein,** _ **Stranger in a Strange Land**_

* * *

Chapter 10: We Just Dropped In

 **Luke**

Everything was black. The only thing Luke could feel was the rush of an invisible wind and Bryn's hand gripping his hand as if she would never let go. How much time passed, he didn't know, but he was pretty sure that they were in the shadow-world longer than they were supposed to be.

All of a sudden, Luke was dropped unceremoniously onto a carpeted floor. The Helm of Darkness flew off of Bryn's head, bouncing halfway across the room. Immediately he looked at his girlfriend who was on her hands and knees, head drooped down.

"Bryn? You okay?" He asked, placing his hand on her back.

"I-I don't know what happened. I thought of home but all it did… nothing happened," she stammered, practically falling over onto her hip as she propped herself up on arm so she could look at him.

"Hey, it's okay. We got out of it and we're in the real world now. Where are we?" Luke glanced around. The building itself seemed familiar but the room didn't.

"My bedroom in London. I thought it would be good for us to be somewhere familiar. Besides, I really wanted to see my mum and dad."

"And I'm sure they would love to see you. Rest for a moment before we go anywhere. You look pale."

"I'll be okay. I've shadow-travelled before but never when I was in control. It just unnerved me not having the Helm listen to me… come on, let's see if my parents are home." Bryn pushed herself up. Luke got up with her, following her downstairs. They heard some movement in the kitchen which they went to investigate. They discovered Mrs. Winchester, grabbing something from a cabinet. She must've just come home from work because she was still in her work clothes.

"Hi mum," Bryn said. Mrs. Winchester world around, pointing a gun at the two demigods. Instinctively, Luke stepped in front of Bryn.

"Do you carry one with you everywhere you go or something?" Luke queried when Mrs. Winchester lowered her weapon.

"Bryn! Luke! Oh my gods when did you get here?!" she exclaimed, rushing over to hug her daughter and Luke.

"We literally just got here. We're on a quest," Bryn explained.

"Yeah, we decided to drop in," Luke said. His girlfriend looked up at him, grinning at his pun.

"How did you get here? Are your brothers with you? What about Derek, Silena, and Hallie?"

"That's a little complicated to explain… long story short, someone stole father's weapon along with Poseidon and Hades'. We just got Hades' Helm of Darkness. Silena and Derek are hopefully at camp so Silena can get treated for her snake bite. Hallie shadow-travelled the twins out of the place but we have no idea where they ended up. I used the Helm of Darkness to transport me and Luke over here."

"Where was the helm?"

"Snake Island. It's off the coast of-"

"Brazil. I know of the island. Please tell me Silena did not get bitten by a Golden Lancehead Viper."

"She did… Derek got her out of there immediately," Luke replied, suddenly feeling guilty that he hadn't tried contacting his sister yet. He'd been so wrapped up in using the helm and seeing Mrs. Winchester that it'd completely slipped his mind.

"Oh I hope Derek got her to camp because that snake is extremely deadly."

Luke mentally tried reaching his sister but there was no response from her. Fear settled into his bones. He pulled out his cellphone and dialed Derek's number. When the son of Hades didn't pick up, panic was added to his fear.

"Try calling Chiron?" Bryn suggested gently, taking his hand. It comforted him to have her there because he knew she was just as worried. He could feel the tension in her grip.

"Silena will be okay, my boy," Chiron said immediately when he picked.

"Oh thank the gods… what about Derek?"

"He's… sort of okay. The trip really took it out of him and once or twice my hand has passed through his body. He's whole now but it'll be a couple days before he's back to full strength. Camp Jupiter sent some of Bellona's daughters to help give him strength after we told them the emergency of the situation. Where are you?"

"In London at Bryn's parents' home. We don't know where the twins and Hallie are. That's our next mission. Do my parents know about Silena?"

"They're on their way over now. Good luck finding the twins and Hallie, and stay safe yourselves. If any of you are going to find trouble, it'll be you and Bryn"

"Hey, trouble finds us," he laughed. "We've had enough trouble the past couple of years. Trust me, we're not looking for anymore."

"I believe you. I'll have Derek or Silena give you a call when they're up and well."

"Sounds good. And thank you for saving my sister's life. I don't know what I would do if something-"

"Don't think about it. Silena is going to be okay, Luke. Get some rest since you have a chance to. Did you get one of the items?"

"Yes, sir. We have Hades' Helm of Darkness. Bryn used it to get us here."

"You're lucky it worked. It doesn't like anyone other than Hades using it."

Luke was about to say it hadn't wanted to work for them but decided against it. "Yes we are. All right, I'll let you go. Bye Chiron."

The two of them hung up and Luke announced, "Silena's going to be okay. Derek exerted a lot of energy and started… dissipating or something but some Bellona kids arrived from Camp Jupiter and gave him strength so he's going to be okay."

"Thank the gods," Bryn breathed. "I'm glad they're both going to be okay."

"Let me try FaceTiming your brothers," Mrs. Winchester remarked, pulling out her phone. It rang twice before Brady's face appeared.

"Hey mum," he greeted.

"Are you and your brother's okay?" she asked.

"Yeah. We're fine. How did you know something happened?"

"Because your sister and Luke are here." She turned the phone sideways so that all three of them fit into the screen.

"Man am I glad to see you two are okay. How did you two get there?"

"We used Hades' helm," Bryn answered. "Never again. That thing is weird and doesn't like people other than Hades using it."

"Shadow-travelling in general is weird. Hallie is knocked out cold so Bradley's watching over her. We're on the far side of Poland closest to Russia. Are Derek and Silena with you?"

"I forgot you two don't know what happened. Silena got bitten by one of the snakes. Derek got her back to camp. They're both going to be okay but they'll be out of it for a couple days."

Brady whistled. "Damn, I'm glad they're okay. You two are okay as well, right?"

"We're fine. We'll stay a day or two here and then start our journey over to you guys."

"Sounds like a plan. How are Derek and Silena going to get over here?"

"We'll figure out that issue when the time comes. For now, rest up. If Russia is going to be anywhere as difficult as Snake Island, we're going to have to be on the top of our game."

"Great… all right, I'll head off. You two stay safe. Love you mum. Tell dad Bradley and I love him too. Love you Bryn. Watch out for her, Luke. And watch out for yourself too."

"I will," Luke promised. "You take care."

"We love you. Talk to you soon," Bryn said. Mrs. Winchester added in her sentiments before hanging up. "Mum, where's dad?"

"He's still at work. What do you say we surprise him with you two being here? He won't be home for another couple of hours so why don't you two go take a rest or shower if you want to while I start cooking dinner?"

The demigods agreed, heading back upstairs. Luke shoved the Helm of Darkness into his backpack. He went to the guest bathroom to shower while Bryn used her own. When he exited the shower, he went to Bryn's room, she was still showering so he went back to the guest room, falling onto the bed and closing his eyes.

* * *

 **Bryn**

The shower felt great, especially after Bryn had been sitting on a dirt-covered, shed-snake-skin covered floor. Bryn had no problems with snakes. In fact, she found them fascinating, but that didn't mean she wanted to sit on their shed skin. Upon exiting the shower, she dried her hair, put on some makeup to hide her paleness and the circles under her eyes. The last person she wanted knowing about her troubles was her mum because Mrs. Winchester already worried about Bryn enough.

Bryn went to see what Luke was doing because she didn't hear him talking downstairs or any sound coming from the guest room. That was explained when she found him sprawled out on the bed fast asleep. She quietly shut the door before going downstairs.

"Hey mum," she said. "Need any help?"

"No, I've got it honey. Thank you though. So how are you doing?"

"I'm okay," Bryn replied, sitting on one of the bar stools.

"The nightmares getting better?"

"They're still the same. Mr. and Mrs. Jackson said it'd take a while for them to decrease in their severity. I feel so bad that they endured it as well but it's nice to have someone tell us that what we're experiencing is normal."

"I'm so sorry you're having to go through this."

"It's okay. I have Luke, Silena, and Derek to help me through it. Silena and I are holding up better than the boys though. Luke's had it pretty rough. Same with Derek."

"Why's that?"

"I don't know. His nightmares just seem to affect him much worse than they do me. I mean I've had some that have just been too terrible to explain but that seems to be the case for Luke every night… the only thing that helps lessen their brutality is when we're sharing the same bed."

"If you're asking for permission to let him sleep in your bed, you have it. I'm not worried about you two. You two might have only been dating for two months but you've known each other much longer and have been in love with each other much longer. I don't mind you two sleeping together. Besides, I have a feeling you two have been shared the same bed before, am I right?"

"Yes… on our first quest together, we were on a cruise boat and I had terrible seasickness. It disappeared whenever Luke was touching me so to help me fall asleep, he stayed in my bed that night. That was the first and only time on that quest. The next time was over the summer when he, Silena, Derek, his friend Tucker and I had a sleepover. I'd been in the kitchen and Luke came into the kitchen to see what was up. In that short span of time, Tucker took over the couch so Luke went and got a bunch of blankets and pillows and we made a makeshift bed on the floor. The next time was when Tucker died. Luke was devastated by it. Derek and his parents were out for a college thing I think and I opted to stay home by myself and watch over Neville. I still don't know whether or not Luke walked to the house from the hospital or his house because he has no memory of how he ended up at the house but he stayed the night. We slept on the couch. The next night we slept in my bed because it was late and I didn't want him going home in the dark. I was worried Hannah would try and hurt him because I figured she knew that if she wanted to hurt me, all she had to do was take one of my friends."

"I'm glad you two have each other. And I'm glad he's been there to help you when your dad and I couldn't."

"It's not your fault you weren't there, mum. You thought I was dead."

"I should've known the Cyclops were lying though. All monsters lie."

"Not all, but most. I've met some friendly ones. Believe it or not, a giant saved us in Tartarus. His name was Damasen. When we were attacked by the _arai_ , he removed the curses from us, and thank the gods for that because Luke nearly died from all the ones he took on."

"I shouldn't ask this because I'm afraid of the answer, but how many near death experiences have you two encountered?" Mrs. Winchester inquired. Bryn stared at the ceiling, mentally trying to count how many she and Luke had had when her mother said, "If it's taking you that long, then it's a lot. Where is Luke by the way?"

"He's upstairs sleeping."

"Why aren't you sleeping?"

"Not tired. I'm too wired from our adventure earlier."

"You'll sleep tonight though right?"

"Definitely."

"I'll convince your dad to let Luke sleep in your bed with you tonight. He loves Luke, sees him as a son, but he's extremely protective of you."

Bryn chuckled. "So this is what it's like to have an overprotective dad."

"He has thirteen years to make up for. He's excited."

"Oh gods…"

"Penn? I'm home!" Mr. Drew shouted.

"Speak of the devil," her mum mused. Bryn jumped out of her chair, rushing to the front door to hug her dad.

"Dad!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around his neck.

"Bryn! What on earth are you doing here? When did you get here?" he responded excitedly.

"A couple hours ago. Luke's here too but he's asleep upstairs. We're on a quest and we ended up here. It's a story for over dinner."

"It's so good to see you. I thought you weren't supposed to come up until this weekend?"

"Plans changed a bit because of the quest, but this was the first place I thought of when we needed to escape and voila, I'm here!"

Mr. Drew set down his briefcase before throwing his arm around Bryn's shoulder as they walked into the kitchen. He gave his future-wife a kiss and asked, "Your brothers here?"

"No, they're in Poland with Hallie," Bryn said.

Mr. Drew closed in eyes in exasperation. "How did they end up in Poland?"

"Well, it's kind of a long story."

"One that can be shared over dinner. Bryn, why don't you go get Luke up and-"

"I smell food," Luke announced from the doorway. They all turned around to look at him. He was rubbing his eyes while letting out a massive yawn. "Hi Michael. How are you?"

"Since when are you on a first name basis with my dad?" Bryn asked in a shocked amusement.

"… You know, I don't actually know."

Her dad gave her boyfriend a hug and said, "I'm doing great now that I have my daughter and you here. How are you?"

"Great now that I've had some sleep and that I'm not having a psychotic snake woman sending her army of deadly snakes after me."

"… What?" He responded.

"Like I said, a story for dinner," Bryn chimed in.

"Speaking of dinner," Mrs. Winchester interrupted, "Everyone wash up. It's almost ready."

* * *

 **Four hours later…**

Dinner had been amazing. Not only that, but her parents took her and Luke out to an ice cream place for dessert. They had a competition between the kids and the parents: which team could eat the twelve-scoop challenge faster. Bryn and Luke won because they hadn't had ice cream in so long that even though they practically made themselves sick eating it all, they found it completely worth it. Her mom and dad finished as well but it took them over an hour. In the end, they could actually drink the ice cream since it'd melted.

It hadn't taken too much effort to convince Mr. Drew to let Luke sleep in Bryn's bed with her after she told him it helped with not just her nightmares, but his as well.

They were finally in bed at eleven o'clock. Bryn was reading a book while Luke talked on the phone to his parents. When he hung up, he said, "Silena's fully conscious of her surroundings now. Derek woke up for a bit but he's asleep now. They send their love to you by the way."

She smiled. "I love them too. To be honest, I never thought your mother would forgive me after what I pulled during the Titan War."

"When she found out you did it all to save my ass, she changed her mind pretty quickly."

"I'm glad. I never want to be on your mum's bad side."

"Bryn Winchester, does my mother scare you?"

"Yes. Very much so."

"Well you dad terrifies me so I get where you're coming from."

"Wait, you're on a first-name basis with my dad yet he terrifies you?"

"He pulled me to the side before I came up here to join you and he said there would be no 'funny' business tonight between the two of us."

"Oh my gods…" Bryn groaned, covering her face with her hands. Peering through her fingers, she said, "I'm so sorry."

Luke laughed. "It's okay. He's just super protective of you, especially now that he gets to be protective of you. Listen, I was talking to your parents earlier because I thought maybe we could stay here another night or two and then head down to Paris for a night before we go see your brothers and Hallie?"

She smiled. "Paris sounds amazing, but why do you want to go there?"

"Because I realized we've been dating for two months and I still haven't taken you on a proper date and I feel really bad about that. I figured since Paris is so close and it's sort of on our way to Poland, I thought I could treat you to a night out. We'd take the train down to Paris, spend the day walking around the city, have dinner at a nice restaurant that my dad recommended when he took mom on a date in Paris, and then go up to the top of the Eiffel Tower afterwards, then go back to the hotel. What do you say?"

"Don't feel bad that you haven't taken me on a proper date. It's not like we're in the best situation for you to do so. But I will gladly accept your proposal for a date night in Paris."

"Good," Luke said, a relieved smiled spreading across his face. "I've already talked to your parents about the plan. Your mom wants to take you shopping tomorrow for a dress so your dad and I will hang out for a bit."

"Will you be comfortable hanging out with my dad by yourself?"

"Yeah. Just because your dad terrifies me doesn't mean I don't like him."

Bryn leaned over and kissed her boyfriend. "I love you."

"I love you too. What do you say we turn out the light and go to bed because I'm exhausted from our day. How have you managed to stay awake the entire time?"

"Because I'm used to running on empty."

"Well you don't need to run on empty anymore. Let's get some sleep, Cat Woman."

"Deal, Sharkboy." Bryn placed her book on her nightstand before shutting off the lamp. She snuggled down into the covers and rested her head on Luke's shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her as he kissed her on the head. Bryn let out a content sigh as she closed her eyes, easily slipping into a deep sleep.

* * *

 **Thought y'all deserved some fluff since it's all going to hell (like it always does) later on. Reviews would be lovely :)**


	11. I Set the Bar Too High

**Because I got such great reviews from the last chapter, y'all get another one :)**

 **Chapter Quote:  
** " **We'll always have Paris."  
** **~Howard Koch**

* * *

Chapter 11: I Set the Bar Too High

Spending time with her mum and dad, even just for a day, was indescribable. It still felt foreign to Bryn that she had her family back again, that she had her mum, that she had her dad, and that she had her brothers. She just was unable to believe her luck sometimes after the Fates had caused her so much trouble. It wasn't even the gods' fault that she'd 'lost' her parents when she was little, or that she was the one chosen to die at the hands of Tartarus, that was all the Fates. So why they were suddenly letting her have everything she wanted, she didn't know. Honestly, she didn't expect it to last.

But while it did, she was going to revel in every moment of it.

Bryn and her mom had had a fun few hours of shopping while Luke had hung out with her dad. When she caught up with the boys later, she asked her boyfriend how it went. He wouldn't go into detail but by the sound of it and by the look on his face, it'd gone extremely well.

The four of them went out to dinner, celebrating Bryn and Luke's visit. Afterwards they went back to the house where they played a game of Monopoly which Luke surprisingly won (Bryn was also pretty sure it almost broke up her mum and dad's engagement). Afterwards they played a game of Scrabble which Bryn won; she attributed it to all the reading she'd done. Mrs. Winchester came in second place, Mr. Drew in third, and Luke in fourth.

Early the next morning, Bryn and Luke said goodbye to her parents and took the train down to Paris. Bryn was hesitant about being on a train going ninety-nine miles an hour under the English Channel, but she reminded herself that her boyfriend had the ability to control water and would save her (and the other passengers) if anything happened.

Upon arriving in Paris, they checked into a swanky hotel that Luke explained Mr. Drew had helped him book it. They left their suitcases in the room before heading out to go explore the city. Luke took a lot of pictures, some even when Bryn wasn't looking which she figured out when she was flipping through the pictures when they were eating lunch.

"I promised your parents I'd take a lot of pictures," Luke explained sheepishly.

"I'm terrible at taking photos of me for them so thank you," she said.

"Why don't you take more photos or selfies?"

"Because I always think there's more interesting things to see than myself."

"I don't think I ever told you this but the first time I met your parents, your mother had a gun pointed at Silena and Derek, I was on the ground with your dad's foot on my back and a gun pointed at me. I told them we knew you, that'd we'd been your best friends. To prove it, I showed them that video of you when we were all in Florida. Your mom hit the replay button at least ten times. Later on, Silena, Derek, and I showed her all the pictures we had of you on our phones. Your mom and dad made me promise to take pictures of you before we left because they know you're not big on it. I don't mind. I like having pictures of my girlfriend on my phone."

"Someone once said that people take pictures of the things they're afraid to lose."

"I've already experienced losing something I was afraid to lose."

"I'm not going anywhere. I know we're on a dangerous quest but I think everything's going to be okay. I think the Fates have finally decided to give us all a break. I mean, I have my family back, I'm dating the guy I never thought I'd get the chance to, my best friend is happily dating the girl of his dreams, Bradley is dating his best friend, and Brady is happily enjoying being an overprotective brother to me and to Bradley. And you're all alive and safe and healthy and happy. I can't ask for anything more than that."

"Well I mean you could but if you're happy where you're at right now, don't change it. What do you say we head back out and sight-see a little more?"

"Let's go," Bryn agreed. Luke paid the bill and the two of them went back out, hand in hand.

* * *

At four, they arrived back at the hotel. Bryn took a shower first since she would take longer to get ready. While doing her hair and makeup, she was particularly grateful at that moment to be related to Aphrodite because it allowed her routine to go smoothly. She went into the bathroom to change into her dress that she'd bought with her mum the day before. Paired with some black, peep-toe stilettos, Bryn took a deep breath. Luke had seen her before in a dress and heels but there was something about this outfit that made her nervous for him to see it. She wore a black lace dress that hugged every curve on her body. It had an open back that went down just above her waistline. The dress came down about mid-thigh, which meant it showed off a lot of her legs. Bryn had never been one to enjoy showing a lot of skin while in a dress. She always preferred shorts and a tank top because for some reason, she felt that a dress was much more… revealing when it showed off a lot of skin. Or maybe she was just nervous because she was in a sexy dress alone with her boyfriend in one of the most romantic places on earth…

"Bryn, you ready?" Luke called out.

"Yeah, just fixing my hair," she lied. She was actually just getting up the courage to show herself in the dress. She stepped into the bedroom, feeling surprisingly shy.

"Wow," Luke said, looking her up and down, a star-struck expression on his face. "You… you look beautiful."

"Thank you," She replied bashfully. "You ready to go?"

Luke held his arm out for her which she gratefully took. They walked out of the hotel into the lobby where he ordered a cab. They stood outside waiting for it. Bryn noticed how many stares she was getting from men passing by. She also noticed how Luke had now slipped his arm around her waist, holding her close to him.

Unable to stop herself from smirking, she whispered, "Are you getting jealous?"

"No…"

"Hey," she said, giving him a kiss. "Their eyes might all be on me, but my eyes are only on you."

"How I managed to achieve that, I don't know, but I thank the gods for it every day," he laughed.

At that moment, the cab arrived. Luke held the door open for her to get before sliding in next to her. The drive to the restaurant was short. They were seated next to the balcony, allowing them to overlook the city. In the distance the Eiffel Tower shimmered in all its glory.

"Say cheese," Luke said. Bryn turned and smiled at him. She pulled out her phone, taking a picture of him as well.

"Any word from Silena or Derek or your parents?" Bryn asked.

"Silena messaged me this morning saying she was feeling much better. Derek is almost back to full strength as well. My parents and the Michaels left yesterday once they made sure the two of them were out of the woods. Have you heard from the twins or Hallie?"

"Hallie's still exhausted but she's okay. Bradley called me this morning while you were still sleeping."

"I woke up at six though. How early did you get up?"

"Five. I had to do my hair and makeup and make sure I had everything packed."

"Did you get any sleep last night?"

"Yes. And I got sleep on the train. I'm fine, I promise."

"Sorry… I just worry about you."

"I know you do. I worry about you too. I think it comes with the territory of dating," she laughed.

"So have you been enjoying the day?"

"This is by far the best date I've ever been on," she told him.

He squinted his eyes suspiciously at her. "Don't take this the wrong way, but isn't this the only date you've been on?"

"Hence the reason why it's the best."

"Crap… how am I going to top this one? I just set the bar really high for myself," Luke joked.

"You're a grandson of Athena. You'll figure something out. But for the record, you don't need to top anything. Any date with you is always good."

"Well now you're making me blush," he teased. Bryn smiled at him before glancing at the menu.

The rest of the night was amazing. They took a trip up to the top of the Eiffel Tower where Luke had a tourist take a picture of him and Bryn together- one of them side by side and then one of them kissing because they were in Paris at the top of the Eiffel Tower, so why not?

They then made their way back to the hotel. Getting into the room, the first thing Bryn did was take off her jewelry and put it back in its box. It was her mother's jewelry that she'd worn on the night that Mr. Drew had proposed to her. She thought it'd look great with Bryn's dress and she'd been right.

She hesitated taking off her dress and heels. As the night had progressed, she grew not only more comfortable in it, but more confident. Luke had stared at her in a way he never had before and she had to admit, she liked it.

To procrastinate some more, she called her mom, telling her how the date went. Some of the questions she didn't want to answer with Luke right there so she made her way out to their balcony where she was able to talk a little more freely. At the end of the conversation, she went back inside and said to Luke, "Hey, I forgot to say this when we got back, but thank you for tonight."

He smiled up at her. "I'm glad you enjoyed it."

"It was incredible. I don't think that's how most people experience their first date," she chuckled. Luke continued smiling but he went back to rummaging through his backpack, prompting her to say, "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, everything's fine."

"Luke, I know when something's bothering you. What's up?"

He stood, rubbing the back of head and giving her a sheepish look. "Sorry. I just… I planned on this being a romantic date and night and all but I just realized how… intimate it is with us all alone in a hotel room all to ourselves and with us all dressed up. I mean you… words don't even begin to describe how stunning you look."

"Are you nervous being alone with me?" Bryn queried, slightly amused as she walked up to him.

"Sort of… I just began to worry that you thought I expected something out of all this after all the teasing and joking the others gave us about-"

"Does it help that I was nervous earlier this evening about being alone with you in all… this?" she motioned to the room.

"Yeah, a little. But you weren't worried about me-"

"No," she replied softly.

Luke let out a relieved sigh. "Good."

"You nervous anymore?"

"No, I feel much better," he confessed.

"Good," she responded. Then she kissed him, long and slow. His hands found their way to her hips as she pulled away.

His eyes were still closed as asked, "What was that for?"

"A thank you for a wonderful first date."

Luke opened his eyes, a mischievous spark flaring up in them. "Can I possibly get some more thanks?"

"Yes you can." Before she could even lean in to kiss him again, he crashed his lips onto hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck. Any worries, any stress, it all disappeared from her mind. Bryn couldn't think straight. She felt Luke pushing her backwards until her back hit a wall. She grunted slightly from impact which caused him to pull away and ask, "You okay?"

She didn't answer, just began kissing him again. He must've decided she was all right since he didn't ask again and that was fine by her.

* * *

 **Last chapter of fluff that I can think of. Hope you enjoyed :)**


	12. Rasputin Gets On Our Nerves

**Honestly, I'm writing this chapter early because of the song because it's so stupid yet strangely catchy…**

 **Chapter Quote:  
** " **There's no other love like the love for a brother. There's no other love like the love from a brother"  
** **~Terri Guillemets**

* * *

Chapter 12: Rasputin Gets on Our Nerves

 **Hallie**

It'd taken four days but the daughter of Hades finally felt back to full strength. It had helped to have a doting boyfriend bring her food and stuff to drink which she would never admit, but she milked it a bit from him. She'd never had someone take care of her for a majority of her life until she was rescued by the Winchesters. It felt good to have someone genuinely care about her health and wellbeing and not because they'd been keeping in her hostage to use as a pawn in their war. Yes, Bryn had used Hallie in her war but Bryn had done things for her that most people wouldn't have if they didn't actually care for them.

"Luke and Bryn should be here soon," Brady announced, walking into the hotel room. "They're about ten minutes away."

"Why'd they stay overnight in Berlin?" Bradley remarked. "They could've gotten here in one day."

"It's close to a twenty hour drive. They're strong but they're not invincible," Hallie said.

"What do you think happened in Paris?"

"I don't know but I plan on interrogating Luke about it when they get here," Brady said.

"Boys, relax. Luke wanted to take Bryn on a first date and since Paris was close by and since they were driving here in the first place, it wasn't that big of a deal," Hallie said.

"Do you realize how high he's set the bar for us guys though? I mean I haven't taken you out on an official date either and now I have to compete with that?!"

"Bradley, trust me, I don't care that our first date won't be in Paris. Honestly, I don't care what our first date is going to be as long as I'm with you."

"I'm so glad you're my girlfriend," he said with a smile. "And I will take you on a date. It won't be Paris but it will be just as fabulous."

"I'm looking forward to it."

"I think they're here," Brady interrupted. Hallie was pretty sure he was saying that just to get her and Bradley to stop with the 'couples' talk, but surprisingly enough, there was a knock on their door. Brady opened it, revealing Luke and Bryn.

"I'm so glad you're safe!" Bryn exclaimed softly as she enveloped her brother in a hug. He seemed taken aback by it but went along. She did the same to Bradley and Hallie.

"How was Paris?" Hallie inquired.

"Oh it was incredible! We went and toured the city for the first half of the day and then went to this really nice restaurant in the evening, went to the top of the Eiffel Tower, and then went to bed. We were exhausted. Then we got up at five to get ready to come here. How are you feeling?"

"Much better. Bradley's been taking care of me and Brady's been watching out for the both of us. How are Derek and Silena?"

"They'll meet us in Moscow tomorrow. Is anyone hungry?"

"I'm starving," Luke said. "Where's some good places to eat?"

"We found a restaurant just a few blocks down. Want to go there?"

"Let's get it to go and eat in the room so we can talk about the next steps for the quest," Bryn suggested.

"Sounds like a plan. We'll be back." Luke kissed Bryn and left with the twins. The moment they were out, Hallie demanded, "What happened in Paris?"

"Nothing. Why?" she replied, sitting on the bed next to her friend.

"Because I don't think I've ever seen you two kiss. I mean yeah there have kisses on the head and the cheek but never on the lips. So what happened?"

"Paris was just a good step in our relationship. It was nice having it just be the two of us, a day of no worries, a day away from camp…"

"I'm happy for y'all. After everything y'all have been through, you two certainly deserve some happiness."

Bryn blushed. "Thank you. How are you and Bradley?"

"We're good. I mean we're still at that… casual yet steady stage of dating. We're not at yours or Silena's level yet."

"Which is completely fine. You're about four years younger than me, and Bradley is five years younger. You two have your whole lives ahead of you. You have plenty of time to decide when you want to become serious."

"You're really cool about your baby brother dating me," Hallie joked.

Bryn smiled. "I know he has good judgement in people and I figure since he's made it this far without my input, he'll be okay with or without it."

"That wasn't your fault you weren't there for him…"

"I know, and I didn't mean to sound like that. I'm just saying he's smart. So is Brady. So are you."

"When this quest is over, I think you, me, and Silena need a girls' night out. We love our boyfriends, but I need some girl time."

"City tour, movie, sleepover. How does that sound?"

"Great. We'll let Silena know when she gets here."

"Have I ever told you how grateful I am to have you and her in my life?"

"No? Why?"

"Because I am. I've never exactly been close with any girls at camp. The only person I was close to before Luke and Silena came to camp was Derek. Silena and I had our rocky patches, very rocky, but I still would've done anything for her back then, just like I'd do anything for her now. But when they came, I almost immediately became close to Luke. He and I were more alike than we comprehended despite how often we bickered. For some reason that's tapered off somewhat. Our bickering is more teasing now than anything else. Then I got close to Silena. Then it was my brothers. Then it was you. What I'm trying to say is I've always had trouble getting close to girls, I don't know why."

"Because they create drama and you hate drama?" Hallie offered.

"Possibly," Bryn chuckled. "But I'm glad that I'm close with you and Silena. Every girl needs at least one super close girl friend, and I'm lucky enough to have two."

"Bryn, I love you, you know that, but what's brought this on?"

The daughter of Zeus shrugged. "After Tartarus, right before I died, I realized there were things I hadn't told any of you that I wanted you to know. Don't worry, I'm not saying these things because I've pulled another thing like I did with Hannah. I'm saying them because just in case something happened to me, I would want you to know how much you mean to me."

"Besides me, how many of the others have you told these things to?"

"Just you and Luke. I find it easier to talk about it when I'm alone."

"Did you talk about it to Luke in Paris? Is that one of the things that changed your relationship with him?"

"Yeah, that's one of the things."

"What were the other things?"

"There are some things that I'd like to just between me and him."

"All right, I won't prod."

"Thank you."

"We have food!" Brady declared, barging into the room. Luke trailed behind them on the phone. He handed Bryn her bag of food, giving her a brief kiss before walking onto the balcony.

"Who's he on the phone with?" She inquired, taking out her meal.

"His dad. He's been on the phone with him practically since we left here to get the food. I don't know what they're talking about though," Brady answered.

"I'm sure he'll tell us if it's something we need to know."

"You're a very chill girlfriend, you know that?"

"I've also known him three years and I trust him with my life, hence the 'chill' part."

"Sorry about that. Dad was asking about the quest," Luke informed as he walked into the room. "He's worried about us."

"Well I mean his daughter was just bitten by one of the deadliest snakes in the world, his son got knocked out by this freaky snake lady, his possible future-son-in-law kept going transparent, his two favorite twins and his favorite daughter of Hades ended up in some random place in Europe, and his possible future-daughter-in-law used Hades' Helm of Darkness to escape and island of death with his son. Personally, I don't see why he's worried," Bradley said.

"Wait, you think Silena and Derek are going to get married and that Bryn and Luke are too?" Hallie mumbled through her food-filled mouth.

"We're related to Aphrodite. We know true love when we see it," Brady stated.

"All right Cupids, finish up. We have a long day of driving tomorrow," Bryn told them. She had a small smile on her face, making Hallie wonder if perhaps something that had happened in Paris had included Luke proposing to her. Hallie took a glance at Bryn's ring finger but there was nothing there so it wasn't a proposal. But something _had_ happened, something important, and it was killing Hallie not knowing what it was. However, she knew Bryn would tell her sooner or later, mostly likely later, but she'd still find out, and that was fine by her.

* * *

 **Derek**

"You ready?" Silena asked.

"Yep. Are you?" Derek replied.

"No, but let's do this." She took a deep breath as she grasped her boyfriend's hand.

"You two ready?" Hades inquired.

"Yes, sir," Silena declared.

"Thanks for doing this, Father," Derek said.

"It's the least I can do for my son who saved the world and who has gone on a quest to get my helm back. Good luck," Hades responded. With a snap of his fingers, the world went black for about two seconds.

In that span of two seconds, Silena and Derek were transported half way across the world to Moscow, Russia, landing directly in front of their friends.

"Hey guys!" Silena chirped. The twins jumped in surprise. Hallie whirled around. Luke and Bryn were the only ones that remained calm. The last three looked worn out.

"Are you all okay?" Derek inquired.

"Oh we're fine. We just are never giving the twins the right to choose the music ever again," Hallie said, glaring at her boyfriend. He grinned at her.

"Uh, why?" Silena responded.

"They played Ra Ra Rasputin the last two hours of the drive here. The song is still stuck in my head."

"Ra Ra Rasputin, lover of the Russian queen! There was a cat that really was gone!" Bradley sang.

"Ra Ra Rasputin, Russia's greatest love machine! It was a shame how he carried on!" Brady bellowed.

Bryn narrowed her eyes at them. "If you two weren't immune to lighting, I would've zapped you into silence by now."

"The zapping is yours and Luke's thing," Brady countered.

"On a different note, hey sis," Luke said, hastily changing the subject. "You doing okay?"

"Much better. You?" Silena responded as he gave he a hug.

"I'm fine. I'm not the one who was bitten by a deadly snake."

"True, but you did use Hades' helm to get to London. Bryn, how are you?"

"I'm doing extremely well. I'm glad to see you up and about though. You had me very worried," Bryn admitted, giving Silena a hug.

"What am I? Chopper liver?" Derek demanded jokingly. Bryn grinned, giving him his first hug. More pleasantries were exchanged between the group before Hallie said, "So where exactly are we staying?"

"There's a hotel just down this street. It's supposed to be the best one to stay at. We only have one night there so whatever it's condition, we'll just have to deal. Then tomorrow we have the arduous journey to the ice caves," Bryn informed.

"How long is the drive?"

"Almost 19 hours, and that's without traffic."

"Bloody hell…" Bradley muttered.

"I was hoping we wouldn't have any more driving after our North and South American road trip…" Brady added.

"Hey, on the bright side, we'll be over halfway done with the quest. Then we'll just have New Zealand and then we'll be done."

"Easy," Hallie said.

"No. Don't say easy. Someone says easy and bad things happen," Bradley told her.

"I feel like this has been said before," Brady remarked.

"That's because it probably has. Come on, let's go get our room," Luke said. The seven demigods traipsed off towards their destination which only Luke seemed to know how to get to. Upon arriving at the hotel, they were greeted by a relatively friendly bellhop.

"I'll check us in. You guys can go wait at the couches if you want," Luke offered. Everyone agreed. However, since all the sofas and chairs were taken, they stood nearby them instead.

"Hey Brady, who does the guy across from us remind you of?" Bradley whispered.

The other twin glanced behind him, whirling back around and exclaimed quietly, "Rasputin!"

"Would you two drop the whole Rasputin thing?!" Bryn hissed.

"But it looks like him!" Bradley whined. Rolling her eyes, she turned around to see for herself.

"Okay, so he looks like the guy. What's the big deal? And if you start singing that song, I will hurt you."

"Because we were listening to that song on the way here and now we're in Russia and the guy is in the _same exact hotel_ as we are. It's just a really amusing coincidence."

"It's not going to be a coincidence if I break up with you if you bring up Rasputin one more time," Hallie remarked.

"Shutting up," Bradley said.

"All right, I got our keys. I managed to get us adjoining rooms," Luke announced as he walked up to them. "I was thinking me, Bryn, Derek, and Silena in one room, the twins and Hallie in the other?"

The group all agreed and they headed upstairs. Bryn tossed her backpack on the floor upon arriving in their room before stretching out across the bed. Barely two seconds later she said, "Silena, you want to grab Hallie and head over to some of the tourist attractions?"

"I'm down. Let's go see if Hallie wants to join," Silena stated. She opened the door to the adjoining room and shouted, "Hey Hal? You want to go sightseeing me and Bryn?"

"I'd love to!" Hallie answered back.

"What? We're not invited?" Derek asked indignantly.

"Hey, we love you, and that means we know what you do and don't like," Silena stated.

"But we like hanging out with you," Brady said, coming into the room with his brother and Hallie.

"Bryn, I like art," Luke argued. "We went to a museum in Paris."

"Sharkboy, I know you were doing that for my benefit, but I also swear you were taking more pictures of me with the artwork than actually looking at the artwork."

"I was looking at a masterpiece."

"That was smooth," Derek commented casually.

"And since you're not allowed to touch a masterpiece in a museum, it probably isn't a good idea for you to go with her," Brady joked.

"Yeah, but who's going to pin the artwork up against the wall?" Bradley inquired.

"Ooh, that's a good question…"

Luke cocked his head and asked, "Did you two just hit on my girlfriend… for me?"

"Let's just not talk about that," Bradley muttered.

"On that note, the girls and I will be heading out," Bryn said, blushing so hard that Derek could see it under her makeup. She picked up her backpack and shouldered it. Bryn whispered something in her boyfriend's ear before giving him a brief kiss and heading out the door. Silena gave Derek a kiss as well before dashing after her friend. Once the door had shut, the son of Hades turned to Luke who wore a goofy grin on his face.

"What in Poseidon's name happened in Paris?" Derek inquired.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Luke responded nonchalantly.

"He wouldn't tell us either and Bryn didn't tell the girls anything so that means two things: either something happened, or nothing happened and they're just having fun watching us be flustered by trying to guess what happened," Brady remarked.

"Take it from my perspective," Luke said. "I'm in the presence of her three brothers. If I said the thing you're thinking of happened, I'd be dead."

"Actually I wouldn't kill you," Derek told him.

Luke squinted his eyes suspiciously at his friend. "Why?"

"Because I know Bryn wouldn't do it with just anyone. And you know what, it's your business. I'm sorry for asking."

"You and Silena did it, didn't you?" Brady stated.

"They totally have done it," Bradley added.

"Have you?!" Luke exclaimed, snapping his head to look at Derek.

The son of Hades glared at the twins. "I'm going to put you both into carbonite."

"That's a fake element though," Bradley pointed out.

"You really want to try me?"

"When?!" Luke demanded.

"During the war… it was sometime after Bryn showed up and I found out that she'd taken on your curse and we thought that maybe one of us wasn't going to make it and-"

"Nope, don't want to hear it. That's your business," Luke said, covering his ears.

"You asked about it!"

"I didn't want specifics! You could've said during the war!" Luke groaned.

"This trip just got extremely awkward," Brady said.

"No thanks to you," Derek retorted.

"We're going to go before you somehow freeze us in carbonite," Bradly said, dragging his brother away into the next room.

Once they were out of ear shot, Derek told Luke, "I'm sorry."

Luke looked at him, a small smile on his face. "Don't be. I was messing with you. I mean don't get me wrong, I wasn't joking about not wanting specifics but being shocked about you and Silena having already taken that step in your relationship, that didn't surprise me. I started suspecting it in Tartarus with the way you and Derek had been acting around each other."

"What? Did you want me to pee myself?"

"No, but I did want to see you squirm, just to make sure that there was still some fear of me in you when it came to dating my baby sister."

"To be honest, if you would've told me that you and Bryn had done it in Paris, I would've done the same exact thing but now that that cat's out of the bag, do you want to tell me?"

"Nope. I still like seeing you all flustered over the whole thing," Luke said with a grin. "I'm going to go nap. I'll see you later."

Derek stared in annoyance as his friend left the room.

"I'm going to freeze him too," he muttered to himself, plopping onto the couch. He turned on the television but everything was in Russian and while he'd been born with the ability to speak English, Greek, and Latin fluently, Russian was not in the list of languages, so he did what Luke did and took a nap.

Derek woke up to Brady shaking him awake. Bradley hovered over his brother's shoulder with an alert Luke behind him.

"What's going on?" Derek yawned.

"The girls never came back with dinner," Brady replied.

"So? It's only like… what? Seven in the evening?"

"It's midnight. They texted us at six saying they were on their way to get dinner and we haven't heard back from them since even though we've messaged and called them more than once."

Derek sat up. "Have you tried contacting Bryn mentally?"

"She won't respond that way either. Luke's been trying with Silena but we're getting the same results. Nothing."

"The girls use snapchat right? I know Bryn isn't a big user of it but I know Silena is."

"That's actually a really good idea," Luke agreed, pulling out his phone. His fingers darted over the screen. The other boys gathered round him, hoping for a good outcome of the idea.

"You were right, she has!" Luke said excitedly. He opened the video which showed the girls at some party. Hallie was chugging some drink, Bryn was dancing, and Silena was spinning around in circles to show the extent of the party.

"Where in Hades' name are they?" Derek questioned in bewilderment.

"That looks like one of the hotel rooms here," Luke observed as they watched more videos.

"Rasputin!" Bradley shouted.

"Why are you bringing that up-" Luke began but Brady interrupted him with, "No! Rasputin look-alike we saw earlier was in the video!"

"You don't think they're in his room do you?" Derek queried.

"No, but surely that music can't be quiet. Snapchat Silena back asking her where she is since she seems to be using the app," Bradley suggested. Luke put on a puppy-pout as took the selfie, captioning the picture with: I want to join. Where are you?

It barely took her ten seconds to reply.

"Top floor, room 1540," Luke informed. He shoved his phone into his pocket and said, "Let's go."

* * *

 **Reviews would be lovely :)**


	13. Drunk on Love

**Enjoy :)**

 **Chapter Quote:  
** " **And I sat there getting drunker and drunker and more in love and more in love."  
** **~Donald Barthelme**

* * *

Chapter 13: Drunk on Love

 **Brady**

Upon arriving at the hotel room, no music could be heard from the corridor. Derek twisted the door knob just out of curiosity but it worked since the door swung open. All of the sudden Brady could hear music. _Loud_ music.

"This is definitely something godly," Bradley remarked as they entered the room. It was jam-packed with people, mostly girls, either talking or dancing.

"Why would the girls come here?" Derek shouted over the noise.

"I don't know but I have a bad feeling about this place," Luke replied. "We need to find them."

"We should split up. Bradley and I should split up so the four of us can continue communicating," Brady suggested.

"Sounds like a plan. Brady and I will go search for Bryn. Derek, Bradley, find Silena and Hallie. And hurry!" Luke encouraged. The group split up.

"This is a massive hotel room. Where in Zeus's name are they going to be?" Brady questioned.

"You think you could float up to the ceiling and see if you can see them from up there?" Luke asked.

"Wow, you do have Athena in you," Brady joked before flying into the air. He spun around slowly in circles, searching for the familiar blonde waves of his sister's hair. It took him ten times but he suddenly saw her in the corner of the room with Rasputin's look-alike. He landed back down on the ground and told Luke what he saw. The Jackson boy darted off, somehow finagling his way through the mass of people. Brady didn't know how Luke was able to do it but tried to attribute it to Luke's football training. The son of Zeus had trouble keeping up but at least managed to keep him in his sights. Finally Brady caught up to him just as Luke approached Bryn and Rasputin's twin. At the sight of the his sister kissing Rasputin, Brady's mouth fell open. Immediately he looked at Luke and began to exclaim, "Don't!"

However, it was too late. Luke yanked the guy away from Bryn and clocked him on the side of the head, knocking him down and out to the ground. Bryn seemed dazed as she glanced at Luke, then at Rasputin, then back at Luke.

"How- you're there… but you're also there," She stated, pointing simultaneously at her boyfriend and Rasputin.

"Sis, that guy looks nothing like Luke," Brady told her.

"Wh-yes he does. He looks just like him," she replied, sounding honestly and completely confused.

"Bryn, look at me," Luke said gently, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Are you okay?"

"I'm lovely. Splendid actually." Her eyes suddenly lit up with excitement. "I'm so glad you're here! The party is amazing and the people here are _so_ nice and-"

"Are you drunk?" Brady asked.

"No, no, no, no," she replied, slurring her words a little bit. "I hasn't drunken anything."

"She's drunk. She would never use improper grammar. Listen, Derek and Bradley found Hallie and Silena. They're in just as bad of shape as Bryn. Whatever this places is, it's affecting them in a bad way. Those four are already back in the hotel room. They had to tie the girls to furniture because apparently, they want to kiss their boyfriends extremely badly."

"Tell them to bring some rope and to escort this guy to our hotel room," Luke said as he held Bryn in his arms. She stood up on her tiptoes trying to kiss him but he managed to keep her at bay.

"Dude, I know you're mad he kissed Bryn but you can't tie up a guy for that."

"He's not mortal. Mortals don't bleed gold. This is all his doing and I want to know why," Luke said, pointing at the small cut on the side of the guy's head that was trickling gold blood.

"They're on their way."

Turning to Bryn, Luke said, "Let's get you back to the hotel room, okay?"

"But I want to stay!" Bryn whined. "I want to stay and dance and kiss you! I-I really want to kiss you right now…"

"Oh gods, she's like Silena and Hallie as well," Brady said. "We need to get her out of here. I don't know why it's affecting everyone but us, but I also don't want to stick around to find out why."

"You two called for backup?" Bradley said, popping up out of nowhere with Derek.

"You left the girls alone?" Brady demanded.

"They're too drunk on whatever this place is doing to them to do much at all. They'll be fine but get down there now. Let's get out of here," Derek said. The five of them began the journey through the crowd once more. Brady led them all. Bradley and Derek carried the unconscious Rasputin. Luke had the task of making sure Bryn first off, didn't get separated from them, and secondly, tried to fend off her advances.

They got trapped for a few moments because there were no openings in the crowd so Brady overheard some of the things his sister was saying.

"Luke, why won't you kiss me?" she questioned, sounding utterly disappointed.

"Because Cat Woman, as much as I love kissing you, you're also very drunk and I'm not going to take advantage of that," Luke told her gently. "Please just follow me, all right?"

Brady found a break in the crowd at that moment and bolted through it. He had to trust that his friends were behind him because if he took his eyes off the door, he was worried he wouldn't be able to find it again. He managed to get in the hallway but realized he was alone. Neither Bradley, Derek, Luke, nor Bryn was with him.

 _Where are you?_ Brady asked his brother mentally.

 _Almost to the door. We lost Luke and Bryn but I trust him to get her out of here safely. Meet us in the hotel room. I don't want the girls unattended for too long._ Bradley stated. Brady agreed, rushing down to the room. He found Silena with her wrist tied to the coffee table and Hallie's wrist was tied to the opposite end.

"Brady!" Silena exclaimed. With a sly, drunk expression, she added, "Did you have anything to do with this?"

"Uh, not my idea but it's needed. Derek will be here soon. I'm going to get you two some water. Stay there," he said.

"Buddy, we can't go anywhere," Hallie laughed, holding up her tied wrist. He wanted to say 'you know what I mean' but he had a feeling they didn't. Whatever that Rasputin guy had done, it'd taken all sense out of the girls.

Just as he placed the waters in front of them, someone banged on the door. Upon opening it, Derek and Bradley entered with a still unconscious Rasputin.

"What are we going to do with him?" Brady asked.

"You two can enchant the rope to make sure he can't use his powers right?" Derek asked.

"Yeah, we can do that," Bradley responded.

"Did you happen to see Luke and Bryn when you escaped?" Brady inquired.

"No. Give it a few more minutes and if they're not here then, we'll go look for them. Luke wouldn't let anything happen to her," Derek said.

"I'm not worried about that. I'm worried about him."

"About what he might do?"

"No, what she might do to him. Bryn has Charmspeak, Derek. Luke might be unaffected by it normally but seeing her like that… her Charmspeak might be on a whole different level at the moment."

"I didn't think about that. How long have you been down here?"

"About two minutes. You've been here another two minutes so in total four."

Derek sighed. "As much as I trust Luke, you're right. Bryn's not in her right mind and her Charmspeak could be much more… influential. After you enchant the rope, go find them if they're not here by the time you're finished."

Brady and Bradley placed their hands over the rope and started saying the enchantment. To create an enchantment to prevent a god from using their powers was an arduous one, and it took them five long minutes of saying the spell and repeating it to reinforce it.

Since Bryn and Luke still hadn't arrived, the twins dashed back up to the party. Some stragglers were already leaving, appearing extremely dazed and confused. Brady and Bradley entered the hotel room once more. The former flew up to the ceiling again, glancing around. Luke and Bryn were nowhere to be found.

"Can you see them?" Bradley asked, floating next to his brother.

"That's a negative. I mean how can you miss Luke? He's like a six-foot-tall, blonde beacon."

"It's a bad idea to split up. Let's just fly around until we spot them. I don't think anyone here is going to care that two guys are flying."

"Roger that." The twins set off, flying slowly above the partiers in search of their sister and friend.

"There!" Bradley exclaimed, pointing to a dark corner of the room. Luke had Bryn pinned up against the wall, but their sister hardly seemed to mind since she had her arms wrapped around his neck and was passionately making out with him.

"How are we going to break that up?" Brady asked.

"Think electrocuting him a bit would jar him to his senses?" Bradley suggested.

"All right, you take him. I'll take her."

"If I wasn't so unsure of who's scarier, I would be making you take on Luke." The twins flew down to the couple who seemed completely unaware of their presence. Without giving himself time to think about how he was going to get a guy Luke's size off his sister, he went for it. It turned out to be pretty easy since Luke wasn't expecting it, but he sure didn't take kindly to it.

"Get the hell off me!" He growled as Brady pinned him by the arms to the wall.

"I'm actually really sorry for this," Brady said before sending a massive electric shock throughout his friend. Luke let out a yell as he sank to the ground, putting his hand to his head.

"Luke? You with me?" Brady asked hesitantly.

For a few moments, his friend was silent. Once he looked up, he said quietly, "How long have I been out?"

"As in out, you mean being under the influence of the thing that is affecting my sister? Roughly around ten minutes. Sorry for the shock. It was the only thing we could think of."

"No, no, it's fine. Where's Bryn? Is she okay?"

"I'd be better if Bradley would let me kiss you again," she grumbled.

"You have a really one-track mind at the moment, don't you?" Bradley observed.

"Come on, let's get you two out of here. Can you walk?" Brady questioned.

"Yeah, I can walk. She'll follow me so I'll take the lead," Luke groaned as he stood up. Bryn tried to lunge out of her brother's arms but he'd been expecting it.

"You know, I'm really regretting not being the one to take on Luke instead of her," he remarked, seemingly to himself. The four of them finagled their way out of the party and back down to their room where Derek was trying to convince Silena and Hallie that they should get some rest. Luke collapsed onto a chair, bracing his elbow on his leg and his forehead on his palm.

"Luke, what happened?" Derek asked immediately.

"Derek!" Bryn shouted gleefully, finally breaking out of her brothers' grasp. She flung herself at her friend who seemed taken aback by her exuberance.

"I got under the same spell she is. Brady literally shocked me out of it," Luke explained, sounding severely exhausted. "Is this what a hangover feels like?"

"Don't know, never had one," Brady said, grabbing his sister by the arm before she sat on Luke's lap.

"We need to get Bryn tied up so she doesn't seduce Luke again," Bradley stated.

"We should also split the girls up because these two haven't stopped talking since you two left. If they're going to sleep this off, they'll need to be separated," Derek noted.

"I'll take Bryn to the bedroom. We'll leave Rasputin in here. Take Silena and Hallie to the room next door. We don't want them around him," Brady said. "Luke, you stay there and get your bearings again. I'll get you some water once I get Bryn taken care of."

"No, I'll help. It might be easier to coax her to do what we want if I'm there," he replied, standing up.

"You sure? Because you look like you're about to fall over."

"I'll be fine. Bryn, come with me," he said, holding out his hand to her. She happily did as he said. Luke hurriedly led her to the bedroom with Brady on their heels. Before Bryn even knew what they were doing, her brother had tied her wrist to the bedpost.

"What are we doing?" she asked playfully.

" _You_ are going to get some sleep. Luke is going to get some rest. I'm going to help Derek and Bradley keep an eye on your girls," Brady responded.

"Hey," Luke whispered so that she wouldn't hear. "Do you think in her state, she'd be more susceptible to your Charmspeak?"

"It's worth a shot," Brady remarked. Turning to his sister, he commanded, " _Go to sleep_."

Bryn blinked tiredly. "I… I think I'm gonna go… to sleep."

She closed her eyes right then and there so since she was sitting up, her body fell forward. Luke caught her though and placed her gently on the bed.

"Thanks for coming back for us. The gods know how long we would've been up there."

"Considering how into each other you were, probably an extremely long time."

"I remember all of it but it's like a dream, even though I know it was real. I just remember her suddenly letting go of my hand and I turned around to see where she was going but it'd been a trick to get me to turn around because the next thing I know she's kissing me and my mind just kind of… went blank. I knew what I was doing, I knew I had something that needed to be done, but all I could think about was her and I couldn't stop."

"I think you took Bradley's comment about pinning artwork up against the wall a little too seriously," Brady joked. Luke glared at him. "I was just trying to make you feel better. You look miserable. It's not your fault that you got caught under the spell and neither is it Bryn's. Get some rest. I'll come check on you later. I'll bring food since none of us have eaten either."

"Thanks Brady. And I'm sorry you had to see me with your sister like that. Speaking from personal experience about walking in on your sibling having a make-out session with their significant other, I can tell you I know how awkward it is."

"Considering you two had no control over it, I'll let it slide this time. Get some sleep and I'll see you soon."

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed :) Reviews would be lovely!**


	14. We Don't Like Rasputin

**In answer to Writersmagnet's comment, there WILL be more action it's just there's a lot going on and you might actually miss the fluff in the next book SINCE THERE ISN'T GOING TO BE ANY. Ships are most definitely sinking. Terribly. Horrendously. This might actually be worse than the ending of UnKnown and what happened in UnTamed… you can decide when we get there :)**

 **Chapter Quote:  
** " **You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them."  
** **~Maya Angelou**

* * *

Chapter 14: We Don't Like Rasputin

 **Luke**

Brady was sitting in the armchair, Bradley was sitting on the coffee table. Luke leaned against the doorway in case he heard Bryn get up. Derek was in the other room watching over Hallie and Silena. All three boys were staring at the god who had woken up four hours ago but had said nothing. He simply stared at them, a small smirk on his face.

However, at the slightest sound coming from the bedroom, he finally broke his silence, saying, "I think your girlfriend might be up."

Luke wanted to say something nasty back to the guy but chose against it. He entered the bedroom to find his girlfriend massaging her head, eyes shut tight.

"Bryn?" Luke whispered, shutting the door behind him so the god couldn't see what was going on. "You awake?"

"Mmmm…" she replied quietly. "Massive, massive headache."

"Here, let's get you some nectar," he suggested. Luke walked over to the nightstand where he pulled out a small flask of the godly liquid from the drawer. He handed it to Bryn who gulped it down. It took a few moments to take effect but when it did, she sat up. Bryn tried to use her wrist that was still tied to the bedpost. She started yanking at it, demanding, "Why am I tied to the bed?!"

"Sorry, it was a precautionary measure," Luke explained bashfully, hastily untying her wrist.

"A precautionary for what?"

"You don't remember?"

"No. I remember having a very weird dream though. That Rasputin look-alike was there and he said something to Silena and Hallie who then started acting drunk and I tried to get them out of there but then Rasputin did something to me and I remember him trying to kiss me but I told him he wasn't you. He asked to see a picture of you and I showed him and then when I looked up, all of a sudden it was you and then we started kissing but then you showed up and punched him and-" Bryn stopped, staring at her boyfriend. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Um… that wasn't a dream. You were put under some spell by that Rasputin guy and the boys and I tried to come get you girls out of there. Derek and Bradley got Silena and Hallie out. I tried getting you out but you kissed me and I got put under the same spell until Brady and Bradley found us with the former literally shocking me back into my senses. You've been out for fifteen hours."

" _Fifteen_ \- oh gods…" Bryn blinked, horror crashing over her face. "That means I really did kiss him and that you really saw… oh gods, I'm so sorry Luke! I'm so sorry!"

"Hey, don't worry about it. It wasn't your fault. I promise you."

His words hardly seemed to faze his girlfriend though who started walking around with one hand on her head and one hand on her hip, appearing absolutely mortified. But that all disappeared the moment the Rasputin guy called out, "How's she feeling?"

Her expression went murderous as she asked, "Is that him?"

"Yeah. We took him back here to interrogate him but that's the first thing he's said since we've been here.

"I'll make him talk," she growled. Throwing the door open, Bryn stalked towards the guy, throwing out her hand and sending a never-ending lightning bolt into him.

"Bryn stop!" Brady ordered, grabbing onto his sister. She ripped her arm out of his grip only to be grabbed by both twins at the same time. Rasputin was now yelling in pain and Luke could tell he wasn't faking it.

"Luke, a little help here?!" Bradley requested.

"I'm all for her torturing him actually," Luke said. "You do realize he drugged her, Silena, and Hallie?"

"Yes, but we won't get any answers out of him if she kills him," he argued.

"He's a god, I can't kill him!" Bryn pointed out, sending a new lightning bolt at him.

"Cat Woman, let them ask questions. When we have the answers we need, then you can torture him, okay?" Luke offered.

"What's going on?" Hallie queried tiredly from the doorway.

"Your friend just tried to kill me," the hostage stated.

"Oh. How unfortunate."

"You too?"

"You drugged me and made out with me after making yourself look like my boyfriend. But you know what, on second thought, I'm glad she didn't kill you. Because that's too easy of a way out."

"Where's Silena and Derek?" Bryn queried.

"Bathroom. She'll be in here in a moment."

"We're here," Silena announced, appearing behind Hallie with her boyfriend.

"Who are you?" Brady asked, his voice eerily calm.

"How about an old moniker I'm quite fond of: Rasputin," the guy answered.

"Wait a second, are you telling me that you really are Rasputin?" Bradley questioned.

"Yes."

"That explains why it took so much to 'kill' him. The guy was a literal god."

"Yes, yes, I'm Rasputin. My real name is Dolos. God of-"

"Trickery and guile," Bryn finished. "Why did you go after me and my friends in the hotel?"

"Because you were pretty."

"No, tell me the truth. If it had been because we were pretty, you would've gone for us the moment you saw us."

"How about because your boyfriends were nearby and wouldn't have let me approach you?"

"You pretended to need help with bags and groceries. You could've asked for all of our help. So why me and the girls but not the boys?"

"Because you three are the most dangerous ones. A daughter of Zeus with three other divine relatives, a granddaughter of Poseidon and Athena, and a daughter of Hades whose upbringing has given her the ability to be wholly independent."

"Luke has the same heritage as Silena. Why is she more dangerous than him?"

"Because she thinks with her head, not with her heart. Not to mention I knew the moment you kissed him up there he'd be under the spell as well. Was planning on the other girls doing the same but that didn't happen."

"They guys are physically stronger than us though."

"Exactly, physically. Mentally, not so much. Derek here has severe inferiority issues, the twins have this desirous need to impress their big sister because you abandoned them more than once; and your boyfriend here is having issues when it comes to his powers."

Lightning sparked from Bryn's fingertips; barely containing her rage as she snarled, "I didn't abandon my brothers. I would never abandon them."

"Right, so when you died for Mr. Ken Doll here, you didn't abandon them?" Luke felt rather insulted because he knew being called 'Mr. Ken Doll was not a compliment from this guy.

"I was going to die before I met them."

"And what if you had met them before you made that decision to save your boyfriend? Would you have continued to keep your identity a secret from your brothers and save Luke, or would you have chosen them over him?"

Everyone's eyes rested on Bryn at that moment. Luke was worried his girlfriend was actually about to snap on the guy because he was pushing into dangerous territory, but Luke couldn't help but wonder what her answer was.

"I never would've told them who I was if I'd met them before making my decision to save Luke. They had done just fine without me up until the point I met them and they would continue to be okay without knowing who I was. I didn't want to hurt them. I didn't want to hurt my parents."

"So why tell them who you were when you recruited them when you knew you were going to die? Because it looks like no matter what, you still abandoned them in the end."

"I didn't abandon them!" Bryn shouted, trembling with rage. "I wanted to protect and make sure none of them got into the mess I'd gotten myself into!"

"Leave our sister alone," Bradley growled.

"All she's ever done was try and protect us," Brady added.

"Yet she had no plans on telling you that she was going to die? I don't remember you two taking it that well. Refused to speak to her for a bit unless necessary, didn't you?"

"We were processing it. We'd gotten close to her in a short amount of time and we're not exactly good with losing people."

"She still abandoned you for this boy right here."

"Stop saying I abandoned them!" Bryn ordered harshly.

"But you did. All because you had a school-girl crush on a coward that let you die for him twice."

Bryn snapped. She struck the god with such a powerful lightning bolt that he and his chair flipped through the air towards the wall. Brady and Bradley barely managed to stop him from crashing. Had her brothers not been there, Rasputin might have gone through the wall into the next room.

"Luke, get her out of here," Derek said.

"Bryn, come on," Luke coaxed, gently grabbing her by the arm and tugging her towards the bedroom. It didn't take much for her to listen to him because of the state she was in. He shut the door to prevent Dolos from hearing anything that he could use to further provoke Bryn. Upon turning around, he found his girlfriend braced against the desk in an obvious attempt to regain control of her emotions.

"Bryn?" Luke queried.

"Don't come near me… don't…" she breathed. "My powers are trying to go haywire and I don't want to hurt you. You're the last person besides my brothers I want to hurt right now. I've done that enough…"

"Hey, don't think like that," Luke consoled, leaning against the desk next to her but making sure he respected her request not to be touched.

"Dolos was right. I abandoned my brothers. More than once. I know I did it to save you and I wouldn't change that. I know what nearly losing you did to me and the gods know how I'd react if you actually died… if any of you died for that matter, but I hurt my brothers. I never should have told them who I was when I recruited them because all that happened was that they got hurt. All I've ever done is hurt the ones I love…"

"Don't say that," he said. "Listen to me, did you hurt me in Paris?"

"I know we had a lovely time but now is not the time to-"

"No, I'm being serious. Answer the question. Did you hurt me in Paris?"

"No…"

"Did you hurt Derek when you went to talk to him the day we held our graduation party?"

"No."

"Did you hurt Silena or Hallie when we were on Snake Island?"

"No."

"And did you hurt me when I came to your house the night Tucker died?"

"No."

"Exactly, you-"

"But I'm the reason that the ship sank on our first quest together. I was a complete ass to Silena in the beginning of the trip to save you from Hannah. I knew about Derek's powers and did nothing to help him learn about them which caused him and Silena to temporarily break up. I was the first friend Hallie ever had and then I go and die on her, even if just temporarily but that doesn't make it any better. I let you get kidnapped by Hannah's minions. I-"

"Stop. Just stop. You could figure out a way to make every way we've ever gotten hurt your fault and I'm not letting you do that to yourself because there are some things you can control, and there are some things you can't. I'm not going to lie. Yes, you've hurt us, but we've hurt you too. No relationship, friendship or more, can go completely without people getting hurt. You're not at fault for the cruise ship sinking. That's Amphitrite and Triton's problem because they threw a fit that a demigod from Zeus's descent was on their turf. That was nothing but petty. If it weren't for you running away from us at Lupa's, who knew how long it would've taken Derek to figure out his powers which let's be honest here, he's saved our butts quite a few times because of his powers. And sure, I know you were being rude to Silena on the trip to save me but from what Derek told me, she wasn't completely innocent in the whole situation either. Hannah went for me that night because I was an easier target than you. Do you realize that everything you're blaming yourself for, I'm able to twist it into a way that makes it not your fault? It's all perspective. I can't take the guilt away from you completely, only you can do that, but I want to at least try and help you do that."

"I want to go back in there," Bryn stated. "I have questions for him and I'm not leaving until they're answered."

"If he starts getting to you, come back in here and calm down, okay?"

Bryn stood up, placing her hands on her hips. "I'm sorry…"

"For what?" Luke queried.

"For breaking down like that."

"That ass in there got into your head because that's what he's good at. I don't think he'll try it again since you tried to send him into another dimension with that lightning bolt of yours."

"I kind of wish my brothers hadn't stopped him," she chuckled, wiping a stray tear off her cheek. Luke pulled her into a hug, kissing her on the top of her head. She let out a shaky breath before saying she was okay.

A few moments later, they went back into the living room where the twins were extremely red in the face. Derek and Hallie looked about ready to kill someone. The only one that seemed to be okay was Silena.

"What did we miss?" Luke questioned.

"He's good at getting under our skin," Derek muttered.

Bryn stared at the god. "How did you know about everything that happened between me and my brothers?"

"Gossip, sweetheart," Dolos answered with a smug grin.

"No, that's not gossip. That was a personal thing between me and my brothers and I know they wouldn't have told anyone about it. So how did you know?"

"You told me last night when you were under my spell."

"No I didn't. It might feel like a dream but I remember it clearly, and I know the only thing I told you was about Luke. Now tell me the truth."

"He's stalling," Silena stated, walking up. "He keeps getting under our skin to avoid the questions being on him because he knows something we don't want to find out."

"Well his tactic nearly got him killed even though gods can't die," Hallie said. "So what's worth hiding that he'd risk that?"

Silena braced herself on the arms of the chair, staring intently into Dolos' eyes, asking, "You're trying to protect what we're after, aren't you?"

"Wait, you think he's protecting one of the gods' weapons?" Brady queried.

"It would explain a lot. It would explain why he didn't immediately go for us when we were in the lobby because he didn't know if we were a threat or not. When he figured out we were, that's when he struck. As for the information he gathered about what happened to Bryn and her brothers, it makes me wonder if whoever he's serving somehow figured it out and told him? Amphisbaena was terrified of the thing that told her to protect the helm and he probably is too."

"It would make sense why a random god was in the exact place we were," Bradley remarked.

"You're not serving Hannah, are you? She hasn't made a comeback has she?" Hallie prodded.

At that, Dolos let out a laugh. "Gods no. She's as good as gone thanks to you seven. No, the thing I serve is much more powerful, and much more deadly. It makes Hannah seem like a power-crazed toddler. It doesn't matter if you find all the gods' weapons because they're still going to win anyway."

"So if it doesn't matter if we get it or not, why not tell us where the next item is hidden in the caves?" Silena countered.

Dolos cocked his head at her, appearing rather proud. "For the sheer fact you figured out my game, I'll tell you. It's in the Titanic Grotto in the ice caves you are headed to. I won't tell you where. I'll just let you have fun with that. Now are you going to let me go?"

"Why would we let a dangerous man like you go?" Hallie asked, giving him an 'are you crazy' look.

"Because if you don't, I'll just get under all of your skins to the point you might go crazy. There's a reason I'm the god of trickery and guile." He peered around Silena to look at Bryn again. "You're really fun to mess with. All those emotions broiling inside you. I mean I understand why you took offense. For one I was right. Second, you have this nasty habit of losing people, don't you? First your parents, then the love of your life on more than one occasion, your best friends… what did you do in another life to deserve this torment?"

Bryn got up and left, causing Dolos to laugh. "She's too easy. And I thought she was mentally strong."

"Oh she is. She has two options, let you stay strapped to a chair or hurt you. Her not hurting you, and taking the high ground, trust me, she's being much stronger than you could ever realize," Luke retorted.

"I suppose. If you were in her position, you would've just started using that power of yours to force the answers out of me, wouldn't you?"

Luke shifted uncomfortably. "How'd you know about that?"

"Can I tell the others about it? Since they don't seem to know?"

"What is he talking about?" Hallie questioned.

"Something he knows nothing about," Luke replied shortly.

"On the contrary, I know quite a bit about you Mr. Jackson. What would you do if I told them? Would you use it on me to prove my point or would you be a coward, as usual, and just let me torment you? Either way, I win. Because that's what I always do. That's what my boss always does. That's why-" Dolos suddenly stopped talking. His mouth kept moving but it wasn't because he was talking. It was more like he was gasping for air.

"Luke, are you doing that?" Silena inquired hesitantly.

"No. I'm not doing that."

"Which one of you is?" he gasped out. His face was now turning a bright red, his eyes were watering, and for a god, he suddenly seemed very human.

"Whoever's doing it, stop," Derek commanded. However, when it didn't, Derek rushed over to figure out what was wrong, only to back away gasping himself. He at least seemed to get his breath back but the moment he was away from Dolos, the god stopped choking.

"Which one of you did that?" he demanded.

"What's going on?" Bryn inquired, stepping into the room. "I felt Brady and Bradley start panicking."

"Someone, or something, just started choking Dolos," Hallie explained.

"Was it you?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at her.

"If I had, I would've done it much, much sooner," she replied coldly.

"What should we do with him?" Silena queried.

"The bonds will be wearing off soon. We need to figure it out quickly," Brady warned.

"Can we give him to the gods?" Hallie suggested.

"They can figure out what to do with him. I'm sure none of them will take it too kindly when they find out he drugged three demigods and that he's working for someone who's trying to destroy the gods," Bradley noted.

"Good point. I'll use the helm to take me and Silena to Olympus. We'll drop him off, explain the situation, then come back here," Derek said. The others agreed. Bryn grabbed the helm from her backpack, handing it to her friend. He put it on, grabbed onto Silena's hand and the back of Dolos' chair before disappearing into the shadows. Once they were gone, Bryn turned around, going back into the bedroom. Luke started to go after her but the twins stopped him, saying, "Let us talk to her. He got to her because of us."

Luke nodded, sitting down on the couch. The twins walked after their sister, shutting the bedroom door. Hallie sat next to Luke on the couch and asked, "Bryn wasn't the only one that Dolos got to. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. He was starting to go after me but that stopped when… whatever it is that happened to him did. I'm just worried about Bryn. He really got to her. She was about to lose control with her powers."

"Last time she actually lost control, she was trying to prevent telling you her big secret."

"I know. She's not hiding anything from us, but that's how I know how bad he got to her. You seem to be in-tune to her moods more so than even her brothers, Derek, and Silena. If for some reason I'm not around to calm her down-"

"I've got it," Hallie assured. "What do you say we go get some food? I think it's best we go in boy-girl groups now and since Bryn is talking to her brothers, I think we're safe to go grab food. There's a small place just around the corner that I think would be okay."

"Let's do it."

* * *

 **Action will happen next chapter, I promise :) Enjoy!**


	15. We Meet a Sea Monster

**Just a disclaimer here- I have no idea what Titanic Grotto looks like even though it's a real place. I tried to find pictures to help with accuracy and none exist so what it looks like is all imagination. Enjoy :)**

 **Chapter Quote:  
** " **The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."  
** **~FDR**

* * *

Chapter 15: We Meet a Sea Monster

 **Silena**

The demigods had extended their stay in Moscow for one more night so the girls could recuperate. Bryn had gotten it the worst since Silena and Derek found out from Dolos that he had given her a stronger dose of the spell because she'd been more immune to it due to her Aphrodite heritage. It was also why Silena and Hallie hadn't felt as hungover as their friend had when they'd woken up.

However, after a good night's rest, the seven demigods got ready to leave. Derek held the helm and said, "Instead of driving, what do you think about me using the helm to get us there?"

"Don't you need to have a vision of where you're going though? You've never seen the caves," Bradley stated.

"I googled them last night. I know what they look like. It's just all a matter if you guys trust me to get you all there."

"I trust you," Silena declared.

"I'm in," Bryn agreed. The rest of the group voiced that they were okay with it too. Grabbing onto each other's hands, Derek transported them to the entrance to the ice caves where a small gaggle of tourists were waiting outside. They stared at the group, as if wondering how they got there without them noticing.

"So he said Titanic Grotto right?" Brady said.

"Yeah. There's an underground lake in there. It's massive," Derek replied. "Since Hallie and I are better with directions underground, would you guys mind if we took the lead?"

"Go for it," Bryn told them. "I'll take up the rear."

The seven set off with the kids of Hades in the front. Silena marveled at the sight of the cave when they entered. The Kungur Ice Caves certainly lived up to their name with ice stalactites everywhere she looked. She took out her phone so she could take pictures of it all because she would probably never get to see this place again.

"Silena, if you don't keep moving, you're going to fall into one of these holes and your boyfriend won't be able to rescue you if he can't see you," Luke remarked.

"Sorry, it's just really impressive," she responded.

He laughed. "I know. Just watch where you're going okay?"

Silena made sure afterwards to note where she stepped. It took them about fifteen minutes before they arrived at Titanic Grotto. It most certainly lived up to its name as well. They found themselves on a bridge spanning across a massive underground lake that was so deep the water appeared black. Stalactites hung threateningly above them while stalagmites rose stories above them, some even with their bottom half submerged in water.

"Anyone see a trident or lightning bolt?" Brady queried, spinning around in circles.

"Please tell me it's not in the lake," Bradley groaned.

"I think that's the only place it could be in here unless Dolos was lying," Bryn said.

"It's the Trident," Luke stated. "I can feel it."

"Me too," Silena agreed. "I think it's obvious that Luke and I need to go down there but that water has to be below freezing and while we won't get wet, we'll certainly get cold. Derek and Hallie need to come with us, for one to use their fire to keep us warm, and second, to use their fire to light up the way down to the Trident."

"The plan makes sense," Derek agreed.

"You don't think we should have a kid of Hades up here in case anything goes wrong?" Bryn asked.

"What could- never mind. Everything could go wrong. But you guys can fly right? So if anything happened, you could fly away from the danger and Hallie and I could shadow-travel Luke and Silena out of there."

"You'll be fine Cat Woman," Luke assured. "I know we've some bad experiences underground but we have two kids of Hades now."

Bryn smiled. "Right."

"So now the question is: how do we get into the water without any of the tourists seeing us?" Hallie pointed out.

"Could you make a stalactite fall?" Luke suggested.

"That would certainly work," she mused. "Derek, you want to do the honors?"

"Sure. Let's go for a big one. Make a statement," he said with a grin. He stared intently up at one of the largest stalactites on the other side of the bridge. The other demigods had no idea it was working until they heard a large crack. It certainly got everyone else's attention because all the tourists turned around to see where the sound had come from. The crack was followed by the stalactite crashing down into the lake, creating a massive splash that got a few people closest to it wet.

"Now," Silena hissed, grabbing onto her brother's and Derek's hands. She saw Luke grab onto Hallie's before they jumped in. The last thing she saw before she plunged into the icy waters were the Winchester's peering worriedly over the bridge.

She and Luke created an air bubble around them to help prevent them from feeling the cold but it didn't do much. However, once Derek and Hallie created some fire, the warmth was enough to at least take the chill out of the air.

"Down we go," Luke said.

"Down we go," Hallie repeated resignedly. The demigods swam downwards into the lake. It had been dark near the surface but now that they couldn't see the surface, it was pitch black. Even by light of fire, the demigods could barely see a foot in front of them.

"Does anyone feel like we're being watched?" Derek inquired, glancing around suspiciously.

"Come on, it's already creepy enough down here. Now you have to talk about that?" Hallie replied in disdain.

"Well let's hope we're the only ones down here," Luke remarked.

"Do you guys see that?" Silena interrupted, pointing at a faint glow below them.

"If that's the Trident, then it's seriously under-protected," Hallie said. "That makes me worry about what's protecting it."

"Only one way to find out." The demigods swam towards the glow. The closer they got, it didn't get any brighter, and when they reached it, they realized why.

"It's encased in ice," Derek groaned.

"Dude, you have fire powers. You can melt it," Luke pointed out.

"This is still suspiciously easy," Hallie muttered.

"You're going to jinx it if you keep saying that."

"Since when has anything been this easy to get though? Name one instance."

"I- you know, that time when we- never mind. I can't come up with anything. Just heat up the ice so we can get the Trident and get out of here…"

Hallie beamed in victory as she placed her hand next to Derek's on the block of ice. Slowly, very, _very_ slowly, the ice began to melt. Luke kept turning around to keep watch of their surroundings while Silena concentrated on making sure that their air bubble remained.

"Got it!" Derek exclaimed happily after what seemed like an eternity. Glancing at her phone, it read that it'd only been ten minutes. Silena reached down and pulled the Trident out.

"This is extremely well-balanced," she observed.

"Well you'd probably lose power on the swing if it wasn't," Derek told her.

"Did you just try and quote-"

"Yes I did."

"I'm not sure if I'm impressed or not…"

"We should get back to the surface," Hallie stated. "It's getting harder to maintain a fire with the cold."

"She's right. We should get back to the Winchesters. I know Bryn is not liking being underground," Derek remarked.

"Can you blame her? It's not like we've had the best of luck whenever we're underground," Silena said, grabbing onto her boyfriend's hand. Just as they were about to shadow-travel out of there, Luke's head snapped upwards.

"Bryn," he murmured.

"Luke!" Derek shouted, but it was too late. Luke had already yanked his hand out of Derek's and Hallie transported them back to the bridge.

The group was greeted by utter chaos when they arrived, tourists cowering on ledges of the cavern since part of the bridge had broken, but their attention was only on the Winchester twins who were frantically flying around in circles, calling out their sister's name.

"What happened?!" Hallie shouted at them.

"There was a monster down there and it took her! She'll die of hypothermia if we don't get her out soon!" Bradley responded in terror.

"Start getting the tourists out of here," Silena ordered.

"What about you?!" Derek demanded.

"My brother is down there all alone. I have to go help him. I love you," she said, giving him a kiss. Then she dived into the water.

* * *

 **Bryn**

She stared into the blackness of the water, anxiously waiting for her friends to reappear. Bradley and Brady kept watch on everything else.

"Hey, they're going to be okay," Brady said.

"I know," she answered.

"Your thoughts betray you, young Winchester," Bradley joked.

"Well, it's more like her emotions," Brady laughed.

She smiled, knowing they were trying to cheer her up. "Sorry… didn't mean for you to sense my emotions."

"We know. We're messing with you. But in all seriousness, they're going to be fine," Brady assured.

"You have four kids in their element: water and darkness. They'll be fine," Bradley added.

"You're right. I need to- wait, I see something!" Bryn said, pointing at a mass in the water.

"Hey, maybe that's them!" the twins stated simultaneously. At that moment, something shot straight through the bridge, causing the Winchesters to throw themselves on the ground to protect themselves from flying debris. Whatever that something was, it was very long, very strong, and very much not their friends.

"What the- is that the Kraken?" Brady asked.

Bryn looked up at what had caused the trouble and felt her eyes widen in horror. "What in Zeus's name is a Cetea doing here?"

"It must be protecting the Trident," Bradley said.

"But then why is it attacking us if the others have it?"

"I don't know, but we need to stop it from killing the tourists, come on!" Brady urged. They all got up, yanking tourists over towards the exit of the cavern. Everything was in disarray as the monster continued to attack. More than once Bryn had to duck for cover to avoid a tentacle from hitting her. She leapt over to the other side of the bridge where she began convincing people to jump over to the other side so they could escape. Little did they know that she was helping them jump by letting the air suspend them a little longer.

Once that task was completed, they had the task of helping the people that had scrambled onto ledges to avoid the Cetea. Of course, what they were seeing was probably not what Bryn saw.

"Brady! Bradley! We need to get those people off the ledges!" Bryn commanded.

"On it!" They shouted back. Bryn shot up into the air to join them but was stopped when something wet and slimy wrapped itself around her ankle. Immediately she sent an electric shock towards the tentacle which released her immediately. Shaken up, Bryn hovered just for two seconds to catch her breath, but that two seconds was all the monster needed to take another go at her, this time wrapping its tentacle all the way up her leg. No matter the amount of electricity she sent towards it, the monster continued to pull her down.

Panic surged through her as she struggled desperately against the Cetea, because if it won in dragging her down into the icy depths, not only would she be facing her fear of dying underground again, but she would be facing her fear of drowning. Luke and Silena were gods knew how deep of water and she couldn't communicate mentally with them to request help from this raging monster. Bryn couldn't even shout for her brothers due to the terror that was nearly paralyzing her. Even that slight paralysis hindered her ability to fight back as well as she could've. If she'd been fighting this thing before her fall into Tartarus, it would be dead already. But this wasn't before Tartarus, this was after, and her slight paralysis gave the Cetea the edge it needed to finally give one good tug and drag her downwards towards the churning black waters. Bryn heard her brothers yell her name, but her focus was on taking a deep breath before she plunged into the freezing water. The moment she was submerged, Bryn felt the iciness creep under her skin. If drowning didn't kill her, hypothermia would.

Bryn struggled desperately against the Cetea's viselike grip on her but the more she struggled the more she needed air. Not only that, the more she panicked, the more she felt she needed air. She stopped resisting the monster, suddenly accepting her fate. Maybe it was the cold getting to her, or maybe it was the darkness that was enveloping her as her lungs began running out of air, but whatever it was, it didn't matter. After surviving Hannah, after surviving Tartarus, after literally dying and coming back to life, the invincible Bryn Winchester was going to die because she couldn't fight back against a monster that wanted to drown her. Bryn Winchester was going to die because for the first time in her life, she let her fears overwhelm her. She let emotion rule over logic.

Her lungs felt like they were about to explode, and Bryn closed her eyes for the inevitable.

* * *

 **I was going to write more but figured I'd leave you on a cliff-hanger. Reviews would be fantastic! :)**


	16. I Know About That

**Enjoy :)**

 **Chapter Quote:  
** " **A man's pride can be his downfall, and he needs to learn when to turn to others for support and guidance."  
** **~Bear Grylls**

* * *

Chapter 16: I Know About That

 **Silena**

She had barely dove down thirty feet into the icy waters when she saw her brother in an air bubble, carrying Bryn in one hand and the Trident in the other which was lighting his way. Her brother looked absolutely panicked. There would be only one reason for that. Silena immediately looked at Bryn. Even in the dimness of the light, it was obvious that the daughter of Zeus was unconscious. Silena swam alongside her brother, helping lead the way to the closest area that they could get Bryn onto ground.

They finally approached a reachable ledge where the siblings carefully dragged Bryn up. Now that Silena had decent light, she was shocked at her friend's state. Her face had lost all color except for her lips which had begun to turn blue. Luke placed his hand in front of his girlfriend's mouth. Barely three seconds later, he placed his ear to her chest, listening for her heartbeat. By now, Hallie, Derek, and the twins had appeared next to them, kneeling down worriedly.

"She's not breathing," Luke stated quickly. "She needs CPR."

"Let me do it. I have an idea to get the water out of her lungs but if that doesn't work, I know CPR," Silena explained quickly, holding her hands out over Bryn's chest. If she could get that water out of her lungs, it would allow her friend to breathe.

"Please hurry," Luke whispered. He'd gripped onto Bryn's hand desperately. Silena knew he was trying to keep calm but he was failing miserably. Derek grabbed onto Bryn's other hand. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a faint glow emanating from her boyfriend's hand which told her he was probably trying to increase Bryn's body temperature which was dangerously low. Hallie got the idea too because she placed her hands on Bryn's legs and did the same as her brother.

"Silena it's not working!" Brady chastised.

"I almost have it. I can feel it," she responded calmly, knowing the son of Zeus was panicking over the thought of losing his sister again. It turned out she was right because all of a sudden, a ball of water came out of Bryn's mouth while Bryn herself woke up, rolling over as she hacked out more water. She was trembling violently, so violently that her arms wouldn't support her as she tried to prop herself up. When Luke tried to pull her into his arms, Derek stopped him, saying, "Let me. I can use my fire to warm her up."

Surprisingly, Luke let him. Bryn tried to look around but she had no strength whatsoever, so her head lolled around as Derek cradled her. Luke ended up supporting Bryn's head with his hand though while the son of Hades caught himself on fire because her head kept snapping back every time she tried to lift and that couldn't have been good for her. The flames coming from Derek weren't hurting any of them but Silena could feel the heat radiating off of him. In that moment, she was to point out how he was pretty much saving the day by saving Bryn, especially since she knew about his feelings of inferiority compared to the rest of them.

"Hallie, take Brady and Bradley and book a hotel room back in Moscow. Use the helm to get there. Get a warm, but not hot, bath ready for her," Silena ordered. No one argued with her. Hallie took the helm out of Derek's backpack, placed it on her head, grabbed onto the twins' hands, and flashed out of the cave. Once they were gone, Silena picked up the Trident to stand guard over her friends until they could get back to the hotel.

"How is she?" Silena queried, glancing briefly behind her.

"Completely out of it," Luke responded. "Her eyes keep going in and out of focus and-" he stopped before saying, "Bryn, keep your eyes open. If you fall asleep, you might not wake up."

"B-but I'm so… so t-tired…" she stammered through chattering teeth.

"I know you are but we need your body temperature to get back to normal first. Just stay with us okay?"

"I know it hasn't been long but Hallie and the twins need to hurry," Derek remarked.

"Did you say curry?" Bryn slurred.

"She'll be fine," Derek chuckled.

"Uh, why?" Silena queried, unable to understand why her boyfriend was laughing in a situation like this.

"Because even with severe hypothermia, she can still think about Indian food."

Even Luke smiled at that. "She does love her curries."

"We got the room!" Hallie exclaimed, popping up behind Derek. "The twins are filling up the bathtub as we speak. How is she doing?"

"She's hanging in there, but let's get her there ASAP," Silena said.

"Luke, take her. She's not going to take kindly being in water again after she nearly drowned," Derek told him. Silena's brother did so without hesitation. Gripping her brother's arm and her boyfriend's hand, Silena closed her eyes. She felt the familiar rush of wind whenever she shadow-travelled with Derek or Hallie. Upon opening her eyes, she found herself and her friends back in the hotel in Moscow, now in a different room. Luke was already heading to the bathroom with Bryn.

"It's still filling up but it's almost done," Brady said when they entered the bathroom. Luke gingerly placed his girlfriend in the tub which she didn't appreciate as she nearly dragged him into the tub with her.

"It's okay. It's warm. It'll bring your body temperature back up," Luke grunted as he leaned back.

"No, no, it's really hot," Bryn mumbled.

"I promise you it's not hot. It's lukewarm. Would I ever hurt you?"

"Not knowingly," she replied.

"Do you trust me?"

"Always."

"Then trust me when I say that the water is okay. The sooner you let me put you in this tub, the sooner you can get out." That seemed to convince Bryn as she let Luke, albeit still reluctantly, put her into the tub. Luke held onto her hand so that the water didn't soak through her clothes. The fact that she was able to hold a mostly rational conversation was good news, so Silena wasn't too worried about the prospect of her friend not pulling through.

"Is she going to be okay?" Bradley queried from the doorway.

"She'll be fine," Luke assured.

"No thanks to you," Brady remarked.

"Excuse me?" Silena's brother whirled around, trying to hide his anger.

"I don't mean you, Luke," Brady said, not taking his eyes off his twin. He then proceeded to stalk off.

When he was out of earshot, Silena asked, "What was that about?"

"Nothing… Hallie, Derek, do you want to go with me to get some food for all of us?"

"Yeah, that sounds good. Luke, will you be okay watching Bryn by yourself?"

"I got it. Silena and Brady are here to help if I need any," he told her. "Go, I'll be fine."

Bradley, Derek, and Hallie walked out of the hotel room. Meanwhile Silena went to go find Brady to figure out what was going on between the twins. She found him sulking in the room next door, doing something on his laptop.

"You okay?" Silena asked as she approached him.

"Fine," he responded. Brady looked up at her, frowned, and added, "Why are you still carrying the Trident around?"

"Honestly, with everything that just happened, I kind of forgot I was holding it. Besides, it won't fit in my backpack. I have too much stuff in there."

"Didn't Bryn put the extension charm on it?"

"Yes…"

"How much do you have in your backpack?" The twin appeared severely perplexed, unable to fathom that she'd used up all her space already.

"A lot. Books, clothes, nectar, ambrosia, some work for school, some extra weapons, my laptop, my charger, my phone charger, makeup, makeup wipes-"

"Okay, I get the picture," he laughed. "You can put it in mine if you want."

"I'm going to hold onto it. Rasputin is still in this hotel and if he tries to come get his revenge on us, I'm going to impale him with this. Also, with everything we went through to get it, I kind of don't want to let it out of my sight."

"Don't blame you. So what's up? I have a feeling you didn't just come in here for idle chat because you have that look in your eye."

"What look?"

"The look you always have when you're curious about something but don't know what the answer is. I know the look because you have it in your eyes a majority of the time."

"What's going on between you and Bradley?" She questioned.

Brady sighed. "He was closer to Bryn when that monster was dragging her down and instead of flying over to help her, he stayed in his place. It's his fault she nearly drowned to death and then nearly died of hypothermia."

"Have you let him explain why he stayed in place?"

"No…"

"As much as I understand why you're angry, I also know that sometimes when people panic or are in shock, they freeze up. Perhaps that's what happened to Bradley because he looked extremely upset over the whole ordeal, and not just because Bryn nearly died again. He looked guilty. Talk to him next time you see him."

"I will… where is he now?"

"He went to get food with Derek and Hallie."

"I'll talk to him when he gets back. How's Bryn doing?"

"She's okay. Her body temperature should be back to normal now so she's probably going to take a shower, dry her hair, and then go to sleep. Then we'll travel to New Zealand for the final leg of the trip."

"Hey, has Luke or Bryn said anything to you about what happened in Paris?"

"You're in the dark too, huh?"

"I'm going to take that as a no."

"You'd be correct. Why are you so interested to know?"

He shrugged. "Because I don't like not knowing things. I'm like my dad in that sense, I guess. He likes to know everything about everyone and when Bryn doesn't tell me things, I feel like she doesn't exactly trust me. Growing up with Bradley and the two of us telling each other everything, it's weird to have a sibling who doesn't."

"Luke and I don't tell each other everything-"

"Like how you and Derek have done it?"

"How did you find out about that?!" Silena demanded in embarrassment.

"It's not that Derek slipped up, but his reaction to something else gave it away. Don't be mad at him. We were just too smart."

"Does Luke know?"

"Oh yeah."

"Crap… how'd he take it?"

"He overreacted just to make Derek squirm. The only reason I know that is because Bradley and I listened in after we left the conversation because Derek kind of wanted to kill us for outing your guys' secret."

"Understandable."

"Luke's fine with it though. If he wasn't, he'd be acting totally differently towards you both."

"Good point. Anything else on your mind?"

"Are you getting a bad feeling about this quest?"

"How so?"

"I mean you nearly died getting the last weapon. Bryn nearly died getting that one," he pointed out, nodding towards the Trident. "I'm worried getting this last one that another of us is going to have a near death experience. If the trend continues with it being you girls, then that means it'll be Hallie. She's family to me, just like Bryn, just like you, just like Derek, and Luke too, even if I give him a hard time once in a while about dating my sister but that's me being a brother. I'm just worried she's next."

"We'll keep an eye on her. You should get some rest. You look exhausted," she observed, staring at the bags under his eyes.

"You should too. Although I'd suggest not sleeping with the Trident."

"Wasn't planning on it," she laughed. "See you soon."

Silena left the twins' room and went back to the one she was staying in. She poked her head into one of the bedrooms on the way there where she found Bryn curled up in a ball underneath the covers with Luke sitting next to her.

"She asleep?" Silena asked.

"No," Bryn murmured.

"That would be a no," Luke chuckled. "She's still too cold to fall asleep but her body temperature is almost back to normal. She stopped shivering in the tub so she showered, dried her hair and put on the warmest clothes she had and got into bed."

"Have you thought about getting the hair dryer and blowing it underneath the covers to warm her and the bed up?" Silena suggested.

"Brilliant," Bryn declared weakly, starting to get up.

"No, no, no, you stay there. I'll get the hair dryer," Luke said. She glared at him but obeyed. Silena followed her brother to the bathroom.

"Are you sure she's okay?" Silena queried. "She seems a little out of it."

"She's always like that when she's beyond exhausted. She'll be okay. Once she can be under the covers without having to be in a ball, I'll know she's warm enough and that she's going to be okay and then I'll get in bed with her because I'm tired too. How are you holding up? No fatigue from the snake bite?"

"No, just fatigue from the mission. I'm going to go take a nap, but let me know if you need anything."

"Will do. Thank you sis."

"For what?"

"For being the rational one today. I would never have thought of extracting the water from her lungs with my power or think of booking a hotel room so we could get a warm bath going for her."

Silena shrugged. "You were worried about her dying again. I know how much it terrifies you. I could feel your anxiety when it was all happening but since I _knew_ I was feeling your anxiety, I was able to rationalize things and just went into this mode where I needed to get things done. Besides, I'm your sister. I'm here to help you whenever you need it."

He smiled at her. "And you know I'll always be there to help you when you need it."

"I know. I'll see you later. Get some sleep. You don't use makeup to hide the bags under your eyes like me, Bryn, and Hallie, so it's a more noticeable. I know your nightmares are bad but you said being with Bryn helps. So go be with her."

"I know… but I feel bad if she has to console me after having another near-death experience."

"Don't. She would feel the same if the situation was reversed and I know that if she woke up from a bad dream, you would be there to console her even if you'd nearly died. Like you did when we were in South America."

"I hate it when you make good points…" he grumbled. "All right, I'll get some sleep. Wake me up when the food gets here."

"Always thinking about your stomach," she joked.

He grinned. "I'm a growing boy. I need sustenance. Besides I burn off a ton of calories fighting all these monsters and stressing over the well-being of all of you in a fight. Especially you and Bryn because I swear to the gods, you two get yourselves in the most insane situations. Like getting a gun pointed at your head by my girlfriend's mother, or running through the streets in Las Vegas showgirl outfits or-"

"How do you know about that?!"

"Derek and I talk about more things than just football you know."

"He better not have taken a picture," Silena growled.

"He has that. He also has a video of it because you two are on YouTube. It was on security videos on the Strip."

"We're what?"

"You're on YouTube."

"You're joking."

"No, I'm Luke."

"I will stab you with this Trident."

"I'm going to go warm up my girlfriend," Luke said sheepishly, sidling past his sister.

"That's what I thought," she stated with a fair amount of smugness in her voice. With that said, Silena went to her bed that she was sharing with Derek, leaned the Trident up against the nightstand, and then fell asleep.

* * *

 **A bit of a calmer chapter after the excitement from the others. Hope you enjoyed! :)**


	17. I Didn't See That Coming (Part 1)

**I'm so sorry it took so long to get this chapter posted- I've had a rough start to the semester but it's getting better now :)**

 **Chapter Quote:  
"I'm so used to hearing so many lies, that the truth doesn't even seem real."  
** **~Unknown**

* * *

Chapter 17: I Didn't See that Coming (Part 1)

 **Brady**

Bradley avoided Brady when he came back with the others with their food. Brady didn't mind as he was still semi-ticked off at his twin despite having the conversation with Silena who had told him to consider the possibility that fear had overcome his brother, paralyzing him. It was only in the morning when Brady found the motivation to talk it out, to get his brother's side of the story.

"Hey, can we talk?" Brady asked, walking up to Bradley who had crashed on the couch in Bryn and Luke's living room last night rather than be in the same room as his twin.

"Sure," he answered.

"What happened? In the cave?"

"I don't… I don't really know. I saw that thing grab onto Bryn's leg and all of a sudden my body froze out of sheer terror and panic at the thought of losing her again. I tried so hard, _so hard_ , to get my body moving so I could fly to her rescue, but it was as if all my muscles just froze. They only unfroze when I saw her being pulled down," he confessed, looking down at the carpet near the end of his story, as if he couldn't bear to look his brother in the eye. "I nearly got her killed because of that."

Brady sighed. As much as he wanted to be mad at his brother, he could also pick up on the complete and utter remorse through their emotional connection. "We've all been through a lot recently. None of us are the same and we don't know how we were affected by it. It's not your fault."

"Are we good?"

"Yeah, we're good. Let's go check on Bryn, see what she's doing, if she's even up."

The twins made their way to Bryn's room. They found their sister still curled up under the sheets but she was awake watching television, albeit with her eyes half closed. Luke, on the other hand, was passed out next to her.

"Hey sis, how you feeling?" Brady queried. The brothers leaned against the door frame.

"I'm still on the cold side but I can at least get up and walk around without shivering. What about you two? Something was wrong earlier. I could sense it."

"Just a discussion we needed to have," Brady remarked.

"I'm sorry, Bryn," Bradley whispered.

She scrunched her face, confused by his apology. "For what?"

"If I hadn't froze, maybe you wouldn't have nearly died."

"I froze right after the first time the monster grabbed me. If I hadn't, it wouldn't have gotten hold of me again. The only person at fault is me."

"But I was close enough to get to you if I hadn't-"

"If there's a way to blame yourself for everything that goes wrong, believe me, you'll find it. I've been where you are before Bradley, blaming yourself for something you couldn't control. I'm telling you right here and now that I don't blame and you shouldn't blame yourself either. Please don't."

"Protect… the queen…" Luke mumbled. All the Winchesters turned to look at him but he was still fast asleep.

"Think he means the Queen of England?" Brady mused, a grin on his face.

"As incredible as she is, I'd venture he's talking about Kate. More his type."

"Kate's married and Luke's taken," Bryn said.

"Considering how much he loves you, maybe he's talking about you," Bradley replied.

"Nice save. I'm going to get dressed. I'll wake Luke up so he can pack. Would you mind telling the others to start getting ready to leave? I want to get this quest over with sooner rather than later."

"Are you up to fighting? It's the last weapon so it's going to be heavily guarded," Brady pointed out, trying not to sound too overprotective.

"I'm up to fighting. I'll take some ambrosia and nectar and will be as good as new. I promise."

The twins nodded and left her be. When she was out of earshot, they shared a glance with each other that clearly said they both believed she was far from ready.

* * *

 **Bryn**

The daughter of Zeus was far from ready. She honestly just wanted to bury herself back underneath the covers and curl up next to Luke. But work needed to be done. Besides, if she got this last weapon back, then she could go home sooner and curl up next to her boyfriend as much as she wanted. With a sigh, Bryn rolled over and shook Luke's arm.

"Sharkboy, it's time to wake up. We have a mission to complete," she whispered. He didn't budge. When shaking his arm for a minute didn't work, Bryn took her last resort. "Sweetie, I'm really, really sorry for this."

She sent a small jolt of lightning at her boyfriend's arm, nothing dangerous but enough to wake him up. It worked brilliantly as Luke jumped into sitting position.

"What's happening?!" he exclaimed.

"Nothing, you just weren't waking up so I had to take a last resort," she informed.

"You shocked me," he stated.

"I shocked you," she confirmed. Sheepishly she added, "Sorry."

"I've had worse wake-up calls," he chuckled tiredly. "So what's going on?"

"We're getting ready to head to New Zealand. Since we have the Helm of Darkness, Derek or Hallie can use it to get us there instead of us having to take an airplane."

"Are you up to it?"

"The thought of getting this blasted quest over with is more than enough to make me feel up to it. Are you doing okay?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You were talking in your sleep. You were saying 'protect the queen.' What were you talking about?"

"I honestly have no idea. How are you doing?" he queried, rubbing her back.

"I'm okay. I've at least stopped the incessant shivering. You know, if you keep rubbing my back like that, I'm not going to get out of bed."

"Maybe that's the point," he teased. Bryn leaned down and kissed him. Her boyfriend mumbled, "Now you're going to keep me in bed."

"Gods, we leave you two alone for five seconds and you're making out already," one of the twins remarked.

"My eyes! My innocence!" the other shouted. Bryn and Luke jumped apart.

"This happens way too often," Luke groaned.

"Well maybe if you two weren't always attached at the lips, it wouldn't be," Brady joked.

"What do you two want?" Bryn interrupted before they could tease her and her boyfriend anymore.

"We wanted to let you know that Silena, Hallie, and Derek went to get breakfast. They wanted to know what you wanted," Bradley explained.

"Egg and bacon sandwich please," Bryn requested. Luke repeated the order. The twins left so the couple rolled out of bed to get dressed and ready for the next adventure. Bryn threw on a new outfit, one that was more suited for trekking through a New Zealand cave, before heading into the bathroom to do her hair and makeup. Luke was brushing his teeth when she entered. He looked tired which made her wonder how much sleep he'd actually gotten last night.

"Did you get any sleep?" she asked as nonchalantly as she could.

"Here and there. Kept waking up. I think I'm starting to sleepwalk. I ended up on the floor next to the couch Bradley was sleeping on."

"Why was Bradley sleeping on our couch?"

"Because he and Brady were having some sort of argument which they've gotten over now."

"What were you dreaming about when you were sleepwalking?"

"No idea. I have no memory of hardly any dreams unless it involves killing you or one of the others."

"That's cheery."

"You're not bothered by me having dreams of killing you?"

"No, because they're just dreams that Tartarus have caused you to have. Your darkest fear, which apparently happens to be mine, is killing those you love most. It's not going to happen."

"How do you know?"

Bryn gave him a cocky smile. "Because if you attacked me, who do you think would win?"

Luke pretended to be offended. "I don't know, I think I stand a pretty good chance."

"Oh please Sharkboy, you might be stronger, but I think I'm slightly smarter."

"I've taken you down in capture the flag."

"You had back up."

"So did you."

"As I remember, my brother was being violently attacked by someone in your group. I was distracted."

"That's a low blow. You know he had no control over it."

"One day, I think you and I need to have a one-on-one battle. See who really is the better fighter."

"Once this quest is over, I'm holding you to that," Luke stated. He gave his girlfriend a playful nudge. "I'm going to go finish packing. I'll see you in a bit."

With a kiss on her cheek, he disappeared into the bedroom. Bryn shut the door out of habit. She'd just always liked having doors shut around her. It made her feel safe because it felt like a barrier to anything evil that wanted to come for her. She knew Luke was on the other side though, which was her only hesitation in shutting the door because if anything did come, he would be left alone to defend himself, even if only for a couple seconds, but even a split second could be the difference between life and death in a battle. But then Bryn reminded herself that the only battle they had coming up was in New Zealand, and hopefully that one wouldn't take too long to accomplish.

Putting the finishing touches on her makeup, Bryn decided she was ready for the day. She opened the door and let out a scream. Overwhelming fear gripped her as she stared at the red and black abyss of Tartarus.

 _Silly girl_. A voice whispered around her. _Did you think these past few months were real? Did you really believe that your brothers and Hallie were able to get the Physician's Cure and save your pathetic life? Did you really believe you made it out of here_ alive _? You poor, pitiful soul. No, everything that's happened since you '_ came back to life _' have been your own imagination. Sleeping with your boyfriend every night, having fun at camp, getting your family back, that splendid night in Paris… all your own imagination. I must say, you've entertained me vastly with the fake life you envisioned for yourself. Although what I can't figure out is why you would make such a daring quest happen? You let your boyfriend get hurt, you let Silena nearly die, you let Derek and Hallie nearly kill themselves while shadow-travelling. You nearly let yourself get killed. Is there some twisted part in your mind that enjoys getting injured? That enjoys seeing others you love in death-defying situations?_

"Stop it! Why are you doing this?!" she cried out, shutting her eyes to avoid seeing the horrors around her.

 _Because there is nothing more devastating than being so happy and then having that all ripped out from underneath you in one fell swoop. And the funny thing is, you're going to go back to your little imagined life with this conversation in mind and despite how real everything is going to seem, you're always going to know in the back of your head that none of it is real. Not Luke, not Silena, not Derek, not Hallie, not the twins, not your parents, not camp. They're all up above you, living their lives now._

"Shut up!" she sobbed. "Just shut up! You're not real!"

"Bryn!" Luke shouted. She opened her eyes to find Luke in Tartarus with her, sliding to a stop on his knees in front of her.

"You're not real… you're not real…" she mumbled, shaking her head and trying to scramble back. But she couldn't move. She looked behind her to see what was preventing her from moving backwards but there was nothing to do so. It was open space behind her.

"Bryn, look at me, I am real. Whatever you're seeing right now, whatever is happening to you is an aftereffect of Tartarus," Luke stated, cupping her face to try and get her to meet his gaze. She just continued shaking her head and trying to pull away. "Cat Woman, please don't hate me for doing this but we need you to snap out of this."

A sharp pain erupted in her hand, causing her to open her eyes to see what had happened. A long but shallow gash was bleeding on her left hand. She looked up to find Luke staring with wide, worried eyes at her. Bryn blinked, suddenly confused be her surroundings. She was back in the hotel bathroom. Luke was sitting in front of her, dagger in his hand, and her brothers were kneeling on either side of her.

"You with us?" Luke asked softly. Bryn nodded shakily.

"What happened?" Brady inquired.

"I-I don't… I was… Tartarus. I was there again," she stammered. "A voice was telling me everything since I came back from the dead has been my imagination and that I'm in Tartarus."

"You are very, very far from Tartarus and I'm never letting you go back there," Luke told her.

"How did you snap me out of it?"

"I made a cut on your hand. Sometimes pain came make things clearer for people."

"That was really smart," she praised quietly.

"I have my moments," he said with a shrug.

"Do we need to spend another day here?" Bradley questioned.

"No… No, we need to continue on with the quest. I don't want to stay another day in Mother Russia. The past few days have not been my best," she replied.

"Not by any fault of yours," Brady consoled.

"I think I hear Derek, Hallie, and Silena. Guys, would you go help them out with the food and get it all on the table? We'll be out there in a minute. I'm going to heal Bryn's hand for her."

The twins nodded with an understanding seeming to pass between them and Luke. The latter helped his girlfriend stand up. He turned the sink on and ran his hand and her hand under the running water, willing the liquid to close up the wound. Bryn watch as the ripped skin on her palm slowly attached itself back together.

"There," Luke said, turning off the water. "Good as new."

"Thank you," she told him, rubbing her newly healed hand.

"Hey," he whispered, lifting her chin up with his knuckle. "Are you okay?"

Her head began nodding but that quickly turned into shaking it as tears started falling down her face. Luke pulled her into a comforting hug as she cried into chest, allowing herself to feel the fear that she'd encountered just a few minutes ago.

"It felt so real," she cried softly.

"I know it did. Trust me I know. But I'm very real. Silena, Hallie, Derek, your brothers, they're all very real too. I mean, I don't care who you are, you can't make up of the crap we say and half the stuff we get into. Also, of all the guys you could've imagined ending up with, you chose me so that tells you right there that you can't have been imagining things," he joked, causing Bryn to let out a small laugh. He kissed her on top of the head before adding, "And you can't make up a love like ours."

Bryn pulled Luke's lips to hers, savoring the kiss, melting into his arms. Every noise, every thought, every sensation save for the parts of her body that were pressed up against Luke, disappeared.

"That was-" he began.

"Just checking sure that you're real. Guys don't say lines like that except in books and movies."

"You are welcome to check if I'm real any time you want, especially if you're going to kiss me every time."

"We should finish getting ready," she said.

"Do we have to?"

"Yes. We have a mission to complete. But after the mission, I say we head to Montauk for a weekend. All by ourselves."

"I love the sound of that."

Bryn and Luke left the bathroom and went into the living space in their hotel room. Their friends were waiting for them.

"You okay?" Derek asked, walking up to Bryn and giving her a hug. She replied she was. The group then proceeded to sit down on the couches and devour their breakfast before hurriedly going to pack their things. They reconvened in the living room ten minutes later where Hallie put on the Helm of Darkness and transported us all to the entrance of the Waitomo caves.

"The water is too deep for us to walk through so we'll need a boat," Silena remarked. "When does the last tour group come out?"

"In about ten minutes. We'll convince them to exit the boat prematurely and I can transport them back to the main base and then come back here before you set off. I've always wanted to see the glow worms," Hallie said.

"Then everyone hide. Bryn, Brady, Bradley, prepare to use your Charmspeak to convince them to get off the boat," Silena announced. The demigods hid behind rocks that allowed them to see the exit of the cave. Just as predicted, a boat full of passengers came out of the tunnel around ten minutes later.

"Stop!" Bradley commanded.

"Listen to us carefully, our friend will transport you back to the main base and we will take your boat," Brady explained.

"And you will not, under any circumstances, breathe a word about us or our taking the boat," Bryn finished. Hallie, with the help of Silena, walked on the water so she could get in the boat. Bradley ordered everyone on the boat to grab each other's hands. In the blink of any eye they were all gone, and in another blink, Hallie was back, grinning at her success. She shoved the helm into her backpack while her friends got on the boat. Bryn gripped Luke's hand because she was once more going into an area where she was both underground and on top of water. There was no place for a child of Zeus to escape if the cave decided to collapse or if the water decided to flood the cave and try and drown them.

Silena and Derek sat in the front guiding the boat. Luke and Bryn took the back. The boat slowly started moving on its own into the darkness of the cavern.

"So how long until we see the glowworms?" Bradley whispered.

"I don't know. Soon I hope because I don't like this darkness," Brady muttered.

"Here," Derek said. A dim, flickering flame appeared at the front of the boat. "I don't want to do any damage to the wildlife since I'm pretty sure none of them have actually seen sunlight or fire before."

"Guys, you might want to look up," Hallie said softly, her head craned up towards the ceiling. The rest followed in suit. Bryn felt her mouth drop in amazement at the sight before her. Blueish-green entities dotted and hung from the rock ceiling above them. For a brief moment, any fear of being underground, any fear of being on top of water, disappeared. She was entranced by the glowworms because the light they emitted was calming to her, which would probably explain why it was so effective in luring prey into the larvae's threads. If it was making Bryn want to reach up and touch them, she could understand why their prey would want to as well.

By now Derek had extinguished his fire because the glowworms were so bright they lit the path before them perfectly.

"This is incredible," Silena whispered in awe.

"I could honestly lay here in a boat and stare at them for hours," Bryn remarked.

"They might end up falling on you though," Brady said.

"You had to ruin the moment, didn't you?"

"Hey, I'm surrounded by three couples here. I had to kill the mood before you all started getting lovey-dovey with each other."

"As much as I would like to go with Bryn's idea, we need to figure out where Zeus's master bolt is," Silena interrupted. "Winchesters, this is up to you. We could sense ours, so you can probably sense your dads."

"It's here but not in the glowworm area. It's farther up," Bryn answered. Silena and Derek directed the boat farther in the cave. Slowly but surely, the lights from the glowworms were replaced by manmade lights illuminating the massive caverns.

"Derek, Hallie, can you sense it? I know it's not your dad's weapon but you can search for things underground right?" Bradley queried.

The kids of Hades shut their eyes, searching for the Master Bolt. It was Derek's eyes that flew open first.

"Follow me!" he exclaimed. He ran off with the demigods hard on his heels. Bryn was confused by her friend's sudden, hyper behaviour, but attributed it to his excitement that they were almost done with the quest once they had the bolt. Then, once it was in their hands, they could use the helm to transport them to Olympus where they could return the weapons to their rightful owners. Derek came to a sliding stop in front of a massive rock formation that towered up stories high in front of them. Above it hung the lightning bolt, blending in with the stalactites.

"Okay, seriously, whoever put that up there, did they really think Zeus's master bolt would blend in with those stilettos?" Bradley inquired.

"You mean stalactites?" Bryn corrected.

"I always forget which are stalactites and which are stalagmites so I just call them stilettos," he commented.

"I mean to be fair, both look like the heel part of a stiletto," Brady added.

"It's like you two didn't even learn about geology," Bryn said.

"You only attended one year of high school. How do you know all this?"

"Because Chiron homeschooled me and other campers during normal school years. I also read the camp library more than once."

"This is why you're the brains in the family," Brady told her.

"She's also the brawn half the time too. I mean when she was training us, she kicked our asses more times than I care to admit," Bradley confessed.

"Enough chit chat. Let's get this bolt and get out of here," Hallie intervened.

"Right, I'll head up and grab it. If it decides to shock me, I'll at least be able to- Luke, what are you doing?" Bryn called out as she watched her boyfriend ascend the steep rock.

"I'm grabbing the bolt!" he shouted back as he reached the top. Bryn shot up into the air in an attempt to catch up with her boyfriend but the air, or lack of, prevented her from flying too high without using unnecessary amounts of effort that extremely winded her. She caught her breath on a ledge as she watched Luke yank the bolt out of the ceiling. He was examining it as she finally climbed up to the top. From her position, he was a just a few steps away from her but slightly higher so she had to look up at him when she said, "Luke, give me the bolt."

"Why?" he asked, facing her.

"That's my father's bolt and if used incorrectly, you could kill any of us, including me. It's the most unstable of the three weapons because it's the most powerful."

"I don't think so," he told her raising the bolt so that it pointed at her chest.

"L-Luke, what are you doing?" she breathed.

A malicious smile formed on his face and he replied, "Sorry Miss Winchester, but Luke's not home right now."

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed! Now the real fun begins!**


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